Tomb Raider: The Golden Seal
by Meldelen
Summary: After her return of Prague, Lara receives a visit. It is possible that Kurtis would be not dead? Don't miss you the continuation which made dream a lot of Spanish TR fans...
1. Chapter 1: A Visit In Surrey

**The GOLDEN SEAL (Looking for Kurtis Trent)**

Chapter 1: A visit in Surrey

Lara was again at Surrey Manor, after her shaken return from Prague. She was upset, really bad-tempered, thought Winston. After all, the French police still was looking for her because of Von Croy's death, since they were convinced that she was the Monstrum... but it seemed that Lara didn't take care of that.

What was supposed to say to them? That the Monstrum was a couple formed by a fallen angel called Karel and an alchemist called Eckhardt who was 800 years old? That both they were now dead and that, even worse, that she had killed them? That did not seem a very convincing story...

But Winston didn't need explanations. He knew Lara very well and anything that she said to him, was always true for him. He had heard more outlandish things from the lips of the person that was far more like his daughter than the person for whom he worked as a butler. But now she seemed to be in another world… she spent her days examining that strange blade, star-shaped, that had been engaged in from Prague. . . waiting to see in it the minimum movement. . .

But the Chirugai was immovable, dull. Since it vibrated in her hand indicating her a possible way in the Strahov, had not showed another signal. It was dead, and probably so his owner.

But Lara refused to accept it. Not because she felt something special by that stranger, well, at least nothing except a sensation of loyalty and responsibility.

He had given to her the Periapt Shards, so she killed the Dark Alchemist; he had helped her to escape by covering her retirement... she dued to him, at least, some words. She had to give him back his weapon. She had to say to him that the Lux Veritatis' mission was fulfilled, that his greater enemies no longer existed. . .

A sound removed her from her thoughts. She jumped off the chair, where she was sit, towards the door, before Winston, attributed by the age, could arrive. Her astonishment was great when she faced to Marten Gunderson, the only survivor the Cabal, Eckhardt's mercenary of Eckhardt, who was pointing at her face with a gun.

Move away, Winston. – said Lara, without letting watch Gunderson.

Where is he? - said the killer.

Who?

Your friend. The last Lux Veritatis. He's not dead, and I must find him.

Why?

That is not your business.

Get out of my house! - she answered, and tried to close the door, but then he turned aside the pistol towards Winston.

You will speak by hook or by crook...

Lara did not let him to finish the sentence. Taking advantage of the fact that the mercenary was looking at the butler, she kicked him in the crotch. That caused that the hefty fellow got "disoriented" for a moment, so Lara took advantage by struggling with him and snatching the gun from him. And Winston also kicked him in the bare skull's killer with a candelabrum placed nearby. Marten Gunderson, honorable mercenary which was Kurtis Trent's superior at the agency fell unconsciousness to the floor in a very little honorable position.

Let me tell you, miss, - stammered Winston- that I recriminate some friendships that you're doing lately...

What is searching this idiot? - Lara said, unloading the weapon - Why is he thinking I know where is Kurtis?

I don't know, miss, but I would do something with him, and pretty soon, before he awakes.

And when Gunderson woke up, he was tied to a chair, with Lara Croft watching sarcastically to him while she was playing with his useless gun, and Winston watching to him with the candelabrum alongside, just in case.

So - she said to him - neither you nor I know where is Kurtis, as I can see.

I don't believe you – said the killer, showing greater dignity than he could allow in his pathetic situation.

Could you say to me then why I'm hiding him?

Because you know who is in fact.

The last Lux Veritatis. So what? The monsters that hired you to make their dirty work no longer exist. Your Cabal is no more than a memory. You don't need to find him.

Gunderson exploded in grotesque laughter. That annoyed Lara, who shouted:

What are you laughing at?

Do you really think, little fool, that you've killed Karel?

Lara raised an eyebrow, so he continued:

You killed the Dark Alchemist. After all, Eckhardt, my Master, was not more than a pawn in his great plan. Karel is old... and eternal. His authentic name cannot be revealed. He is the last Nephilim, and you could not killed him because he's inmortal.

Oh, yes, sure! And for which reason the Nephilim are extinguished so he's the last one left?

In fact, a Nephilim is inmortal except if a Lux Veritatis kills him. . . and in this case, the Lux Veritatis must die with him. If one of both survives, the other also does. It is a mystery that only the Nephilim understand.

Lara wrinkled the frown. So Kurtis and Karel were alive. But that meant. ..

Yes - Gunderson said - Good and Evil. Each one is annulled by each other, and at the same time they are complementaries.

And because of that you want to find Kurtis? To kill him? Thus you will kill also Karel, and I do not believe he wants such thing.

There exists an object which is able to cancel that mutual understanding. Who discovers its True Option will held in his hands the decision to give death to the Nephilim or to the Lux Veritatis, and to decide our world's fate.

And that object is...?

Kurtis' ring. The Golden Seal.

And you want him to kindly give that Seal to you. I believed you were more intelligent…

Only you know where is him. - the killer said – How much you ask for him?

Then was Lara the one who exploded in outbursts of laughter.

If what you want is to bribe me, you're wrong. I'm overrun of money.

But you do not have a clean background, right? Give me Kurtis, and I will make the police to forget about you. I will cause make your mentor's murder attributed to another one.

Lara hated that man who knew so much about her.

- You're stupid. And you're in disadvantage.

Gunderson made a grimace, and immediately jumped towards her, the chair still tied to him, to attack Lara, but she who was an expert in fighting avoided his attack. The result was Gunderson rolling on the floor.

Do I hit him, miss? - Winston said, grasping the candelabrum.

Lara was temped to agree, but she recognized that it would be useless. She removed a knife from her boot and untied Gunderson. He, who at last was not _so_ stupid, considered suitable to hear her before attacking.

Listen, I don't know anything about Kurtis. And even if knew it, I would not say anything to you.

Winston outlined a smile. That was his Lara! He did not know so much about that Kurtis, and he know that to investigating about him was only going to give more problems, but that man had no right to break into the house and point his Lara with a gun.

And now – she worthily repeated– get out of my house.

And she indicated the door to him with a simple wave of her hand. Could be something more humiliating? Marten Gunderson himself expelled from a place like a bad boy!

I see that you say the truth – then he said - you really don't know where is the Lux Veritatis. But you will look for him, isn't it? Now that you know that world's fate is in his hands. I'm not going to face you now... but I'm going to keep an eye on you. Both me and my guys. And when you find him... we'll also find him.

He left, and then Lara banged the door.

Miss - Winston took part then - it's really necessary to find that man?

Lara sighed.

Yes. Even if Gunderson's story were only a nonsense (and what I have seen until now makes me think that not), Kurtis is the only one, appart from me, who knows everything what happened. If I've serious problems with justice by Von Croy's murder... only he could stand up for me.

Winston agreed, but in fact he doubted that the authorities believed a pair of fools talking about alchemists and fallen angels. Well, Lara would think about it. She was very clever. Always.

I will take the risk. I must find Kurtis - repeated Lara in low voice, as if Winston where not there - but, how?

Lara spent the following days with the Chirugai hanging of her belt, waiting to any movement. She, who had found lost things, who discovered the most hidden places, she did not know how to find a man, and she had her only hope put in an object that seemed to indicate, like a cardiac monitor, the vital constants of the only one which could make it to work.

Von Croy surely would laugh at her... or no, she thought with sadness, because his mentor had finished his days assassinated by a creature who in his young years he would had described as completely mythological.

Three days after the pathetic visit of Gunderson, the Chirugai showed again a signal. Lara was sleeping when a sudden bang in the closet woke her up. Before asking herself what was that, her natural instinct already had reacted: she jumped off the bed, she took the gun that always kept under the pillow (a personal habit that peaceful Winston had not been able to take away from her) and crouched down. She ran towards the closet and opened it, and there were the opened Chirugai's blade, which had nailed in the door of the closet when trying to escape. She left the gun and unnailed the disc. Apparently, that object noticed that, because it began to vibrate and to pull again smoothly from her arm in a certain direction. Lara drifted, and finally she stopped when, already at the iron doors of her manor, she made sure that the object was pointing to the East.

The East - she said, watching at the object - the same direction that it pointed to me in Prague... why I would not follow it then? Perhaps it is too much late...

But the Chirugai did not seem to share her oint of view, because it continued throwing from her and began to cast a slight orange sparkle... it was her imagination, or it was beginning to reborn?

The East... what was at the East? While she crossed that direction with her imagination, suddenly she remembered the words that the Cabalistic scientist Müller (before he sprinkled her with that insecticide) had said to her: _"The Sleeper... the last one of the extinguished race has already arrived from Turkey"_

To the East... – she repeated - Turkey. Nephilim's home.

If it were not there, it would not be in any other place.

Well - she smiled - Towards Turkey!

And the Chirugai, satisfied, closed the blade and reimained immovable. Its mission, by the moment, was fulfilled.


	2. Chapter 2: The Turkish archaeologist

**Chapter 2: The Turkish archaeologist**

Turkey. Between East and West, its most beautiful city had changed its name for three times: from Byzantium to Constantinople, soon it changed again to Byzantium, and nowadays its name is Istanbul.

There was Lara, trying to be unnoticed among the crowd, which was impossible to her, because she already was a woman who used to attract attention among Western people, even more when being between Eastern population that at the moment was struggling to modernize theirselves. And, for example, there were the typical women in black, covered with veil, watching unmerciful to that shameless European woman walking around and exhibiting not only her long dark braid, but also her athletic anatomy. So bad behaviour to those honorable mothers and wifes.

She would not have a man to commands he to be decent and to protect her – whispered one.

Ah! - sighed the other one - What a pity!

Lara, who heard it (and of course, she also understood it) turned towards them and she dedicated a careless smile to them, while thinking: "Old witches... at last they will be really the only pitiful ones here". The two old ladies, scandalized by her smile, spat on the ground in her way.

The truth was that Turkish people had already begun to get tired of Islamic fundamentalism, and the young people already began to walk without veils and black garments. A few ones crossed their paths with the English explorer and looked at her with certain envy, since she was free. A certain example of this gradual (too gradual) liberation of Turkish woman was the person whom Lara was arranged a visit. She was Selma Al-Jazeera, an archaeologist like her, but she neither brought guns nor made crazy things (in this aspect, Lara was from an unique species). Like most archaeologists, she was a respectable member of National Geographic, whose excavations were subsidized by them and took place at Cappadocia, so she was an expert in Jewish mythology and satanic symbolism too.

The great Lara Croft – said the young archaeologist, shaking her hand – It's an honor to meet you.

My pleasure, Selma - she smiled. - I will go direct to the point: have you ever heard about the Cabal?

She blinked, confused.

Of course. It's the mysteric cosmology of Jewish religion.

I do not talk about _that_ Cabal. I talk about the ones who believed in the return of the Nephilim.

Selma remained inmobile, and immediately arise, and before Lara's astonishment, she began to close doors and windows.

Sorry, but are we being spied on?

Here _that_ Cabal is an open secret. Everybody knows about them, but nobody will talk about them. How do know you that?

Lara meditated for a while. Finally, she decided that she must trust somebody if she wanted to progress in her quest.

Let me start at the beginning. Do you know an archaeologist called Werner Von Croy?

Yes, I worked with him a pair of years ago. He was another great figure of archaeology – said Selma -. He was murdered recently, according to some sources.

And suddenly, she remembered _who_ had been charged with his murder. Lara raised a hand.

Before you call to the police, let me tell you the truth. All this began when a terrified Werner called to me from Paris, requesting me to go to his apartment as soon as I could...

And astonished Selma listened to the whole story, while she was twisting her fingers from time to time. Lara noticed this and also the fact that she seemed to recognize the names of the Cabal members she was talkink about. When Lara finished, both remained silent.

- You don't believe me, do you? – tried Lara.

- Yes, I believe you. – said Selma - Everything you've said is true. All you said matches with all I studied during so many ears... and with what happened here.

- What happened?

Selma lowered her voice:

- A few months ago, me and my guys were working in my excavation at Cappadocia, when we found something under the sand. A Nephilim cemetery.

Lara looked surprised.

- We didn't know what to do. Those creatures there, locked in stone chambers, were not human. All were dead ... except one of them.

- The Sleeper. - Lara said.

- Exactly. And just a week later, _he_ appeared. Eckhardt.

She got up and started wandering around the room like a lost soul.

- He came to my excavation when I was at a conference. I knew nothing until it was too late. Most of my workers had been bribed... and with Eckhardt, there was that gruesome Karel... who killed those who resist to give them the Sleeper. One of them was my boyfriend.

- I'm really sorry .- Lara said.

- They loaded the stone chamber of the Sleeper onto a truck and left. I had not heard anything more about this issue until a pair of weeks ago, when he came here.

- Who? - asked Lara.

- Kurtis Trent.

Lara remained astonished, but she decided to prove Selma.

- That's impossible. Kurtis is dead. As I said, when I went back to the place when I left him fighting Boaz, the pool of blood wich I found in his place was so great that no one, even being really strong, could survive after bleeding so much.

- He did not came on his own. - said Selma – He was brought.

- By who?

Selma sat down again, this time next to her.

- I don't know. There were several people, most of them elder. They seemed to be members of some sect.

- The Lux Veritatis? – said Lara - But Kurtis is supposed to be the last one, it's impossible.

- Whoever they were, they saved his life! I was told to take care of him, that he was hospitalized long enough to ensure that his life was out of danger, and after of that, he was transferred here in Turkey ... to my house.

- Why you? – Lara asked - Who are you?

- Me? Nobody. At first I was reluctant to accept him, but they insisted it was necessary, until the person who should come to look for him arrived.

Then the Turkish archaeologist looked at her uneasy.

- They knew you were coming, Lara!

- Nonsenses. - she said, but then everything matched. Kurtiss had been calling her... but why so far, why in his bad situation?

Lara rose up.

- I have to see him immediately.

- He's not here.- sighed Selma.

That was for Lara like a bucket of cold water. Before she could open her mouth, the Turkish girl continued:

- He was safe, but really weak. His wound was so horrible… and it had not healed completely. At nights he experienced great fever and delirium. In his suffering, he was calling you… screaming your name.

Lara almost laughed at the dreamily expression on her face.

- That's romantic, isn't it? - sighed Selma.

The British explorer raised an eyebrow with her most typical attitude of sarcasm.

- You're wrong, Selma, if you think that there's something between us.

- Oh - she said, really disappointed – so at last, yesterday he left. He just wrote a note thanking me my attentions, which immediately burned. I have the impression that both of you are in danger.

"You're the one who is in danger," thought Lara, and immediately said:

- Very clever of you. Do you know where he went?

- He wrote that you would know where to find him. – a smile cross Selma's face –He really trust you despite being strangers.

- Question of need .- she said. And then she had an idea.- Selma, you're the director of the Cappadocia's excavation, aren't you? Please, let me to enter it.

- Of course.- Selma said – you do not even need a pass. It's abbandoned since National Geographic withdrawn the subsidy to me. And all that for the Cabal!

Lara rose. There was no time to lose. Touching Selma's shoulder, she said:

- You must go away from Turkey, as soon as you can. I have the Cabal after me, and so far they have been dedicated kill those who have helped me.

She nodded, frightened:

- I understand, thank you. And you can be sure that I will support you if you run into serious problems because of Von Croy's murder.

Two hours later, when Gunderson and his guys broke ino the apartment to kill she who knew too much, Selma Al-Jazeera was thousands of miles away. Safely.


	3. Chapter 3: Manticores

**Chapter**** 3: Manticores**

Cappadocia was a dry region, almost a desert, which was outstanding for the exceptional beauty of its rock formations. Lara did not find a soul in the wilderness (_fortunately_, she thought) and she took three seconds to slip into the excavation and crawl through the tunnel. And at the end of it... the discover.

The Nephilim necropolis was structured in continuous circular chambers, each of them had twenty niches containing a globular structure of stone, containing a Nephilim.

Selma's team had undergone a careful drilling in order to allow seeing inside the "sarcophagus". Nothing to do with the bungling of someone like Howard Carter and Heinrich Schliemann... archaeology was now more advanced, and Lara, avoiding touching them, looked into the holes and watched those creatures, lying on their final resting place.

The Nephilim were tall, lanky, rather. Their remains were only a few somewhat human skeletons with strips of skin... they were dead, and surely had been killed after being placed there. Lara figured it out while seeing the etched mark found in some skulls: a demonic face surrounded by three daggers, the Periapt Shards, which were the insignia of the Lux Veritatis, their ancestral enemy. After the warrior monks discovered the place, the Nephilim, temporary lethargic, had embraced their eternal rest. The only one who escaped was the Sleeper, whose location was probably the only empty niche... Lara wondered how it could pass the Lux Veritatis registration.

When she reached the last chamber, the tunnel went down. Lara lit a flare, and after a few steps, she saw a signboard placed by Selma's team which said: DANGER. UNSTABLE GROUND. But it was too late for her.

When she was going back, the floor, old and cracked, disappeared under her feet. With a scream that echoed through the darkness, she rushed into the void, cursing her stupidity, but just then a strong arm came out of the darkness and held her tightly. Then she heard a familiar voice:

- Clearly, you're unique to get into trouble, miss Croft.

Lara, hanging over the abyss and only subjected by that arm, looked up and saw...

Kurtis.

Joachim Karel sat quietly on the couch where, hours earlier, Lara and Selma had been talking. He looked around the Turkish archaeologist's tiny apartment, wishing he could catch her. It had been a long time since he killed somebody, and was frustrated… especially since this woman who knew too much was able to escape alive.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Karel looked with disgust that mechanic device which humans were so proud of, but unfortunately it turned out to be more than helpful on many occasions.

He walked deliberately slowly towards the phone. If the call were useless, it would stop ringing soon. However, the sound persisted. That was the signal.

He picked up the pone.

- Master – that was Gunderson's voice - We have located them. Both. In Cappadocia's necropolis.

The necropolis... his former home, where he had taken from the only living Nephilim (apart from himself) to Prague, in whom he had put his hope... for nothing.

- Excellent. - said the Nephilim

- What must we do?

- Capture them. Both of them. I want them alive.

Gunderson seemed undecided.

- Master, the woman will be a trouble...

- I said I want _both_ of them. And try not to hurt them or I'll be less merciful than Eckhardt was.

- Yes, Master.

He hung up the phone. Karel, satisfied, left the apartment. His plans had been ruined by the twisted intelligence of that damned Lara Croft, who had been very easy to handle... but impossible to defeat. This time never would fail... he had everything going for it.

What Gunderson ignored (in fact, it only was known by Kristina Boaz, Eckhardt and Karel himself) was that the Sleeper was a female specimen... supposed to give birth a new race of Nephilim... yes, by _that_ traditional way, which made humans gone crazy. Her destruction had ended the chance of creating a pure race. Now he must find a human woman... one worthy of giving birth to a second Nephilim's generation.

In fact, Karel had already chosen her. He smiled.

- And when I finish my task with you – he whispered - what I did to your mentor will seem a blessing _compared_ to what I'll do to you ...

As for the man, he was neither worried nor scared by his Golden Seal. We would be a great pleasure to strangle the last Lux Veritatis with his bare hands.

It is said that Nephilim were a cruel race. Well. That was only the beginning.

Lara pulled herself up and finished to climb, helped by Kurtis.

- You owe me an explanation. - she gasped.

- And a painting.

She laughed.

- Forget about the Painting, it's hopeless.

She sat on the floor and lit another flare. Maybe it was a trick of the green light mixed up with the shadows, but it was evident that Kurtis had been wounded and was still sick, according to his pale face.

- Why did you come here?

- Actually, I fled. I assumed that you were stalked by Gunderson, so if I staid at Istanbul we would have been caught by their guys.

Then Lara looked at his hand and saw the golden, square-shaped ring, with a kind of map graven, and said:

- What do you know about all this?

- Not so much -he said after sitting next to her – the last thing I saw was the head of that monster rolling on the floor, after being pierced like a Turkish kebab. I was an idiot. I should not underestimate my enemies.

His voice sounded bitter and frustrated.

- Then, when I awoke I was in the house of a Turkish woman who started to scream when she saw me jumping out of bed. She explained to me everything she knew, and then I hoped that you had received my call and you would come soon.

- But you were unconscious. - Lara said - How could you call me?

- With this - he said, pointing towards the Chirugai, which was hanging from Lara's belt-, Can I have it back?

She gave it to him. Kurtis lovingly caressed the weapon and fixed it to his belt again. Seeing the suspicious face of Lara, he said:

- I neither can ask you to believe me, nor can you understand how I did that. I did it, that's all. Call it a miracle, if you want, and for miracles there's also the fact that I'm alive.

- The people who helped you...

- I have no idea about who were them. After Eckhardt killed my father, I am the last one.

The truth is that Kurtis had never told her that he was a Lux Veritatis. She had figured it watching the strange display of his mental powers and the information he had of his ancestral enemy. And he was also conscious that she had figured it out.

- Now tell me everything, please. - Kurtis said, very seriously - Because what I have said to you is all I know about all this.

And Lara told him all. Although he was looking at her with a frowned face, she read the admiration in his eyes when she told how she had killed Eckhardt. She told about Gunderson's visit to her manor, Golden Seal's story, everything she had discovered recently.

When he finished, Kurtis sighed.

- So that ring which is at my finger is called the Golden Seal and has the ability to decide which of both us wins and which one has to die?

Lara gasped:

- Didn't you know that?

- Well, no - he said. - All I know is that my father gave me this ring when I was sixteen. It surprises me he never told me about that, he who was so proud of being a Lux Veritatis.

Suddenly, a sound made them jump. They heard hurried footsteps beyond, away, on the surface of the necropolis, some orders out loud and the gnashing of some machine guns...

- Curse him. - Lara said- Gunderson!

To her astonishment, Kurtis remained unalterable.

- It's about time. I was waiting for them.

- Oh, really? Are we going to go into diplomacy with them?

- No. - he said with a smirk, while loading his Boran X - We're going to set a trap.

Gunderson distributed quickly some instructions to his men.

- Spread out by the cameras. You have enough lighting. And remember, do not hurt them, just capture them.

- What if they open fire? - said one of them.

Gunderson growled. That was the problem. That pair of guys was indomitable, specially the woman, who was a real damned bitch. And he knew enough about Kurtis to be sure that he will not surrender easily.

- Sir?

- Do not give them a chance.

Kurtis jumped up and ran to one corner of the hallway.

- Help me with this.

Lara came and saw he was tugging at something heavy...

- A can of gasoline?

- Yes.

Then she understood.

- You'll make a mess.

- Just what you love to do, don't you, miss Croft?

He threw the can and began to spread gasoline on the floor. Under normal conditions, the sand from the excavation would have absorbed the gasoline, but the ground had already been swept and polished by archaeologists, leaving an irregular, bare rock, getting as a result some puddles.

- We'll have to run. - said Kurtis – And I hope they follow us.

- What are you trying?

- You must trust me now.

He jumped over the hole created by the release of land (when Lara had been about to fall), which fortunately was not very wide. Lara followed him, hoping that the soil will not sink again. It did not.

Then, on the other side, Kurtis took a tiny detonator and tied up it on the edge of the hole. He activated it and then both started to run.

- Where are we supposed to go? - she gasped as they ran along the dark tunnel.

- There is another exit. - he said, giving her a stolen map from Selma's apartment.- We will exit to the other side and try to caught them at the back of this tunnel.

The plan would be clear...

- How long before we leave?

- A pair of hours.

Suddenly, they heard the shot and a brief detachment.

- Now the hole is a little wider... it's difficult, but not impossible to follow us - Lara said. - But the gasoline...

- With that one we will close their way back. They won't turn back.

- Then they will come where we are!

Before Kurtis could answer, a scream of rage was heard in the distance:

- _You fucking whore!_

Lara frowned.

- Who has been called a whore?

- Hum - Kurtis smiled - I certainly don't think _that_'s referred to me.

- Well, neither do I. In fact, I was _not_ the one who put the detonator.

- That damned bitch has a detonator and had opened a gap!

Some mercenaries were looking at the hole in the centre of the tunnel. Gunderson frowned. Bad business. And there were splashed gasoline. He quickly reviewed any outbreak of fire, but there was nothing. It seemed that the container was tipped over by accident...

- What are you doing? – he shouted – Did you know how to jump a damn hole, didn't you?

Those idiots reacted and began to prepare the string instruments to access the other side. Gunderson turned to five mercenaries, his favourites, as he said:

- You must stay here with me, standing guard. If I believed this container was tipped over by accident, I would be an idiot.

They had spent some time running when Kurtis suddenly stopped and seemed unable to go a step further. He clutched his stomach.

- Are you okay? - said Lara, who had still enough energy to go on.

Kurtis shook his head. Boaz's wound was burning him like fire.

- That's nothing. - he said only.

- You're very bad at lying. - Lara said, and went towards him.

Suddenly, his eyes fixed on something which was behind Lara. She turned and immediately drew her weapons.

There was a pair of orange eyes glowing in the dark. Then a pair more. And another pair. And another. And suddenly they heard a strange sound, like crackles and pops. Lara could have sworn that reminded her of a dolphin squeaks.

Dolphins in a desert cave?

Kurtis seemed to have recognized the creatures. He arose, tense.

- See what you see - he said- do not be panic.

- Panic? – Lara snorted - I have no pan...

Suddenly she got silent when she saw the first creature that emerged from the darkness. She gasped.

Lara had seen horrible things in her busy life. But that thing ... that...!

It was a four-legged creature which reminded her of a lion, but its tail was an appendix ending in a sharp sting. The neck was long and wavy ... and the head was human.

The head was that exactly as Lara's head.

It reproduced with perfection her face with a ghastly change: instead of her sensual lips, it had terrible open-to-the-ears jaws, fitted with long, narrow, sharp teeth, which produced those clicks between opening and closing.

Lara went back, and was surprised to see that she was shaking like a leaf.

- It's me! – she gasped.

- No! – said Kurtis, who has still behind her- They just take your face to terrify you. You must ignore their face!

It seemed difficult. Kurtis shuddered when the second creature went out of the darkness: it had his face disfigured by those toothed jaws.

- What _the hell_ are them? - Lara said, loading her guns.

- Manticores. Stay away from the appendix, it's poisonous.

She remembered having that name on Father Dunstan's bestiary, when she was a child.

Suddenly the manticore first attacked, casting on her. Lara shot and had the horrible vision of her own head exploding... and then this one regenerated itself until remaining intact.

- Guns are useless! - Kurtis shouted, throwing the Chirugai towards one of them – You must behead them!

- Damn. - Lara hissed, and took the knife she had in her boot.

Kurtis' prodigious weapon turned in the air, illuminating the darkness with orange flashes (like the eyes of the manticores) and went to behead one.

Lara slammed a kick in the face of another manticore, and taking advantage of the confusion of the monster, slatted its throat.

Damn, she was now covered by blood. She hated that…

- Lara! - Kurtis shouted, grabbing the Chirugai as it went flying to him- Behind you!

She turned too late. A Kurtis-faced manticore threw her down to the floor. Lara plunged his knife into its throat, but then noticed a pain like burning on her thigh and saw that the manticore's sting had torn her skin, opening up a furrow.

She pushed its corpse away from her and stood up, but then everything began to spin before her eyes. Stunned, she leaned against the wall, and without warning, she fell down to the floor.

The poison.

Last thing she saw was Kurtis getting a manticore away from her with a kick. Then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4: Selma's Diary

**Chapter 4: Selma's diary**

When Lara regained conciousness, she felt her head hammering and her eyes were cloudy. She tried to sit up, but then she felt dizzy and collapsed, falling back onto the pillow.  
- It would be better if you don't move. - she heard Kurtis' voice.  
He was squatted in a corner of the tunnel.  
He had lit a little bonfire and was cooking something that didn't smell very good. She saw four corpse shapes on the corner.  
- That thing you're cooking isn't what I think, is it?- Lara whispered, putting her hands over her eyes.  
- Manticore's flesh. – he said- The only antidote for its own poison.  
Kurtis approached and offered her a piece of grey flesh. Lara felt sick.  
- I'm not going to eat that. - she said, obstinate – I'm better. I'm not going to die.  
- Maybe. - he said – But you will be blind in two hours.  
Lara growled and put the flesh into her mouth. Fortunately, despite its horrible appearance, manticores tasted like chicken.  
She fell asleep inmediately.

******************

Kurtis got up and looked around. Manticores' incident could disrupt his plan, but it wouldn't be messed up if he acted quickly.  
After killing the last manticore (it was easy with the great accurancy of the Chirugai) he had placed Lara in a hidden corner of the tunnel. However, manticores' blood, bonfire's remains and corpses would betray them, if Gunderson's men hadn't discovered them before that.  
Kurtis' mother, Marie Cornel, was an Indian of the Navajos' matriarchal tribe. Kurtis had spent most of his life with her, and Marie, who was, like Lara, a strong woman had instructed her son about things that are only known by Indians: how to track somebody without being discovered, how to move with secrecy and discretion, talking as little as possible, and how to eliminate all signs which show that you've been somewhere.  
And, in fact, Kurtis could go unnoticed anywhere; he never took part in an event unless necessary and he always remained in the shadows. So he was able to move unnoticed by Gunderson's men.  
He quickly pushed the mantichoras' corpses out and he put them in the center of the tunnel near to where it bifurcated. He carefully picked up the bloody dirt and spread it over the corpses, then he buried the bonfire's remains and flattened the dirt so it looked as if no-one had been there.  
If the plan succeded, Gunderson's men would take right's path, where there were signs of battle. However, according to Selma's map, the path that led to the exit was on the left.  
Satisfied, Kurtis came back and sat down next Lara, put out the flare and waited for Lara to wake up.

************************

- Hey! – shouted one of them – Here!  
- But, what _the hell_ is that?  
The mercenaries were looking at the beheaded and skinned manticores with shocked expressions.  
- They're demons! – he shouted again – I'm going!  
- Damn! – the other shouted – You'll remain here like all the others!  
The dead manticores were lying at the entrance of the right hand tunnel. There was a trail of blood which started here and disappeared into the dark.  
- They must have fought with those creepy things and have gone ahead.  
But another mercenary was hesitating while looking at the left tunnel.  
- What if there's a trick? It would be better to divide us into two groups.  
- The boss told us not to do that. The fewer we are, the more dangerous it is for us.  
- But they're only two!  
- Two? The woman's worthy like four! Look what they have done with those monsters!  
Finally, they took the right path. Kurtis smiled, hidden in the dark.  
No problem.

**************

Gunderson withdrew to the excavation's entrance. His men were wearing gas masks, but he was already half-suffocated by the damned petrol.  
He was astonished when he saw Kurtis standing in front of him. He immedatly aimed his gun to point at Kurtis, but noticed that he was not trying to defend himself, which astonished Gunderson even more.  
- Are you looking for this, Gunderson? – he said with an ironical smile.  
The mercenary asked himself if Kurtis was refering to the Golden Seal (which was on his third finger) or to his middle finger which was up.  
- Well, I see you finally dare to face me, Trent.  
- Are you selling yourself to the highest bidder as usual, you piece of dross, aren't you? Who are you working for? It's that Karel, isn't it?  
- I have a life-mission, but you have nothing: your only purpose in life is to die at my Master's hand.  
Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him, and when he turned he saw Lara pointing with her gun at his face. _What the hell…?_  
- Don't move. - said Lara – Don't breath. What ever you do, don't shout, because by the time your men arrive I will have killed you.  
A trick. He had distracted him, while she had crept up behind him.  
- You won't win. – said Gunderson – The Nephilim has planned everything for you, and he will find you wherever you hide yourself.  
- Has anybody said that we're going to hide? – said Lara.  
Gunderson smiled.  
- When you'll know what he's going to do with you, _honey_, you will want to hide for the rest of your vile life.  
Lara frowned. What on earth was she doing here?  
- Stop having a chat - Kurtis said, taking out his weapon – Go into the tunnel.  
Gunderson dropped his weapon, entered, and forced by Lara he walked passing the big gasoline pool. His men couldn't help him, and his five most trusted ones were in one of the chambers, and it was too risky to call them.  
_I'm definitively surrounded by fools_, he thought.  
- Go on, Lara. - Kurtis suggested.  
She lit a flare with a perverse smile.  
- _You damned bitch!_ – Gunderson screamed.  
Lara dropped the flare into the pool and the petrol caught fire inmediately. Gunderson ran away and dissapeared into the dark.  
- A good plan. - said Kurtis, putting away his weapon.  
Lara had to agree: the fire would seal the entrance for a long time, forcing Gunderson and his men to go back. As for the rest of the mercenaries, they probably would be lost in secondary tunnels, and the exit was closed by another explosion.  
- We should have killed him. - said Lara, while they were walking to the place where Kurtis' motorbike was (wich he had rescued too).  
- Kill Gunderson? – he said – Maybe, but in fact, I have some respect for him. He was my best friend a long time ago. If I have to kill him, I won't do it that way.  
Lara shook her head. Damned be the men and their ridiculous sense of honour.  
- Do you want to know what I don't like about your plan? – she said – That since we've started, nobody has stopped insulting me, and it has all been planned by you.  
Kurtis started laughing. That was the first time she was him laughing… and that changed his face completely, Lara thought.  
- I'm sorry. I promise to compensate you for every offense.  
- Well. - she sighed – As emperor Caligula said: _Let them hate me while they fear me._  
They ride the motorbike and left the excavation to go to Istanbul. Lara's plan was to return to Selma's apartment in order to find more information about the Seal. But they didn't know that every movement was being controled by Karel, who had allowed them to take an advantatge over him upto that moment.

That was the strategy of somebody who knows that he will win.

***********************

Kurtis stopped the motorbike in front of Selma's appartment, after a tiring journey from Cappadocia. Lara went towards the door, but then she stopped.  
- What's up? - he said.  
She put a finger on her lips and pointed to the door. It was half-opened.  
Both of them placed at door's sides, picked up their weapons…  
- One, two, and three!  
Lara opened the door with a kick and they entered pointing with their weapons to all points.  
Selma's apartment was astounding: nobody could explain how such a small space could hold so many things. They knew there was nobody there… but the last visitor had left a message for them.  
On the wall there was a text written with a dark substance, composed of symbols similar to those that were in Von Croy and Vasiley's apartments: the Nephilim writing.  
- It's blood. - Lara said, aproaching to the wall.  
There was no corpse, no policial intervention. It seemed that Karel had written that with his own blood.  
Kurtis was concentrating on the symbols, and then Lara heard him whispering in a strange language.  
- Do you understand the writing?  
- My father taught me the enemy's language. – he answered – _"And Yahveh said: My spirit will not remain within human race, because they're only flesh"_  
Lara exclaimed:  
- That's a Genesis' verse, the same as the one which mentions the Nephilim! He should be very proud of being eternal while we're only simple mortals.  
She started searching in the shelves and papers in Selma's study. It was necessary to find information about the Seal, and discover some clue. At the moment, they were stuck.  
- Go and have a rest. - she said- I can handle this.  
Certainly Kurtis didn't know how he could stay on his feet.  
- Tell me if you find anything. - he said.  
He went to the bathroom, had a shower and a shave (he had a horrible beard). When he removed the dirty bandages on his torso, that horrible wound appeared. He touched his stomach and his back. Boaz's sting had entered trough his back and had exited by his belly without seriously damaging, neither his organs nor his spinal column were affected. If he had believed in miracles, _that_ would have been a true miracle.  
For a moment he stopped thinking about himself and remembered worried the rest of Karel's message. He hadn't told Lara about it, since she was very clever and probably she would have deduced what he was starting to suspect.

_Come, my dear, my lovely,  
Come to be crowned again._

It was a text from the Song of Songs. Maybe it could sound very romantic, but those words, said by that demon, had a cruel irony. And he also remembered Gunderson's words: _When you'll know what he's going to do with you, honey, you will want to hide for the rest of your vile life._  
He definitively won't say anything to Lara about it. It wasn't worthy to worry her. They had other things to worry about.

******************************

Lara spent all night surrounded by papers. She looked over all the study of the young archaeologist, and "borrowed" what she found interesting. She read and read until her eyes hurt, but she didn't find very much. Or Karel had destroyed the information, or that information didn't exist.  
Until she found Selma's diary. The little book was full of anger and pain due to the sad events during the girl's last months before she fled. But in the diary she discovered something valuable:

_We have found a Hebrew inscription on one of the necropolis' walls. The inscription talked about something known as the Golden Seal. According to what we have translated (the inscription was badly conserved) it's an object which contains a key. Who obtains that key (which is called "the True Option") will have the choice to choose between the Good and the Evil, between the triumph of the Light of Truth and the Fallen Angel. The inscription also talked about an Amazonian, but I cannot understand what was said about her. Unfortunately, we can't deduce any more. The inscription contained a map which was supposed to locate the place where the key is, but Cabal's members attacked my workers and destroyed the inscription._

Lara tore up the page and called Kurtis, who was getting up after having a long rest. She showed him the note and said:  
- _Light of Truth_ concerns on _Lux Veritatis_. The Fallen Angel is Karel. All this confirm what Gunderson told me when he broke into my house.  
- But we haven't got the key and the map… - Kurtis said, but suddenly he stopped talking.  
- What's up?  
Kurtis took the Seal off his finger and gave it to Lara. She took it and examined it carefully. There was an engraving at the ring. It had a rounded shape, but it was easy to distinguish that it was a map.  
- I can't believe that we're so lucky. - Lara said – And still there's something that annoys me. If Karel hadn't wanted us to discover the map, he would have turned over earth and sky to steal the Seal from us.  
- Why? – Kurtis said – He has the advantage over us. It's obvious that he already knows that, and now he wants us to follow at his heels.  
- That means that the Seal hasn't got any value by itself? That it's only an indicator?  
That made sense. Lara turned towards the map. There was a mountainous place, but there were no names engraved.  
- Those are the Carpatians, or at least that was my father told me. - Kurtis pointed – I've always asked myself about that star on the left corner, like a treasure's location or something else.  
Lara gave him back the Seal and was trying to remember something about that place. Suddenly, she kicked herself:  
- I've got it! The count Dracula!  
- What?  
- The Carpatians go across Romania, the ancient Transylvania! Count Dracula's land!  
- That's true! And according some sources, Dracula was a Nephilim. - Kurtis laughed – That's perfect to me.  
To prove her words, Lara had brought an atlas and was studying the place. Things became clearer when they discovered that the little star was exactly on the ancient county.  
- So the key is at Dracula's castle. - Kurtis said – And it's supposed that old wives tales were innocent.  
- They _never_ are innocent. - Lara said, then she smiled – Next destination: Romania!


	5. Chapter 5: Karolis

**Chapter 5: Karolis**

Romania is full of castles, but only one has the fame of being Dracula's home. It's called Bran's castle, located at the city of Brasov, which is near where the Carpatians and Transylvanian Alps meet.  
Lara and Kurtis had discussed how to get there. Of course, a journey across the continent was immediately rejected: it was difficult to go across Bulgaria and they wanted to avoid problems with the police if somebody recognized Lara. By plane they had to do a lot of scales and they didn't trust the line's security, so finally they decided to go by ship, which took them from Istanbul to Constanza, from which one they would travel to Bucarest before making their way to the Alps.  
In order to remain unnoticed, they dressed as a pair of tourist guides working in the Balkans. While they were walking along the deck, Lara was explaining to her partner:  
- In fact, the so called Count Dracula is only a myth. The writer Bram Stoker was inspired by a real and historic character, the Transylvanian count Vlad Tepes, known as Vlad V the Impaler. He was called like that because he applied this torture very frequently to those who opposed him or his defeated enemies, and that meant he was known by another terrible name: Vlad _Drakul_, the Devil.  
- And that name changed into Dracula. - Kurtis said.  
- Exactly. He was told to drink human blood, to enjoy watching tortures and executions like a spectacle, or to invite his enemies to dinner and afterwards kill them.  
- A perfect Nephilim. They are all similar.  
At night, Lara used to lock herself in her cabin with all the papers she had taken from Selma's apartment and spent the whole night drawing maps, diagrams and drawings, in order to get more information. Her friends used to say that it was the most boring part of her job, but she enjoyed racking her brain as much as shooting or jumping over razors.  
- There's something that doesn't make sense. - she whispered to the deaf pile of papers .- What on earth does an Amazonian here?

She took another page and started writing all she knew about this legendary character. But she stopped when she heard a crack.  
She got up and retrived her shotgun from under her pillow. She approached the bathroom (where the noise had come from) and kicked the door open. But she only saw her face in the mirror.  
- I'm neurotic. - she said – I hear noises everywhere.  
She was about to go back when, suddenly, she looked the mirror again.  
There was somebody behind her. She screamed and turned, but then she felt an Uzi's barrel at her forehead.  
- Silence! – said a man, talking in Greek - Drop the weapon. Your time is over.

Kurtis was at his cabin sharpening Churigai's razors when he heard the shot. In fact it was the short burst of an Uzi. And after that… only silence.

The noise had come of Lara's cabin, and it seemed impossible that she had shot without a reason.

He jumped to the door and opened it in a pull, after having run over a poor steward, he started thumping the door.

-Lara! What's up? Lara!

Silence.

People were going out of their cabins, attracted by the scandal. Without looking at anybody, Kurtis rushed forth the door and battered down it.

He was very lucky since he fell down and avoid the bullets which were going directly to his head. He rushed to the man and threw him to the floor, wringing the arm which was holding the Uzi. The man screamed with pain when his arm broke with a crush.

Call to the ship's police! – screamed a lady who was watching the scene.

Kurtis dropped the weapon and discharged it quickly, throwing the chambers to the gangway.

That won't have further use, you bastard!

The man struggled and punched Kurtis' face. Then he ran away trough the gangway.

Lara was lying on the floor, motionless.

Kurtis spent three seconds to take a decision. He started to chase the man even his wound was hurting so much, but the other man was suffering too, due to the broken arm which was shaking without control.

He caught him at the deck, and cornered him against the rail.

Keep still!- he shout – What the hell are you doing?

It's her! – the Greek screamed, hysterical – She's our danger! She was destinate to give birth to a demons' race!

If you've killed her, you psycopath – Kurtis shouted, pointing him with the Boran- I swear you will remember me by the rest of your life!

The Greek didn't answer. He quicly raised a knife and, before Kurtis could stop him, he stabbed himself on the heart. His corpse fell to the Black Sea.

- Miss! Miss! Are you OK?

Lara awake, helped by the waiter. By sidestepping the rush of the Uzi (which had hurt her slightly in the arm) she had beaten herself against a corner, which had made herself to be briefly unconscious.

- I'm fine, it's nothing.- she said.

The waiter was pale and trembling. His life had never been so exciting, and the sight of a woman with blood dripping arm was more than he could stand.

- What happened here? - said the captain entering the cabin, surrounded by the police boat.

- A murder attempt.- a very calm Lara said – Could you send me a doctor?

_Wow_, thought the captain, _that's_ _to_ _have cold blood and the rest is bullshit_.

- Do it. - said to the guards - Where is ...?

- My partner attacked him and fled - said Lara.

Kurtis appeared at that time by coming hastily. Although he was a man who did not easily show his emotions, Lara could see perfectly the relief in his face to see she was only wounded.

- He has committed suicide! - he exclaimed. – That madman has stabbed himself with a knife!

Some hours later, everything was clear. Most of the passengers could testify that the alleged terrorist attacked Lara, fled and finally killed himself. Now the rest was in the captain's hands.

Lara, with a bandaged arm, was still among her papers, as if nothing had happened. Kurtis, sitting nearby, was looking at her. After a while, she looked up and smiled.

- No need to be there overnight like a bodyguard – she said .- The guy is dead and I can take care of myself.

_I'm sure of it_, thought Kurtis.

- Now I won't sleep even if I were sedated. - he said.

At that time the phone rang. Lara picked it up and instantly heard an aging male voice:

- Are you okay, miss Croft?

Lara nodded to Kurtis and he came to hear what he said.

- Who I'm talking to?

- Just calling to apologize for the attack. Karolis was one of ours, but he went astray and decided to take justice by his own hands. I'm really sorry.

- _Who the hell are you?_ - Kurtis said, picking up the handset.

- We are the ones that brought him to the hospital, Mr. Trent. The same people who bribed some doctors ir order to save a life that he had decided to let go. The ones who gave their blood to replace yours, since you had bleed almost until death. So that's why I'm really sorry, because it has been one of us who attacked you. But this won't happen again.

Kurtis, dismayed, could only say:

- But why? Why have you done this for me?

- Because we're on the same side, Mr. Trent.

And the old man hung up. Lara and Kurtis stayed a few moments looking at the phone and wondering what on earth was happening.

At dawn, the ship arrived to Constanza. Lara and Kurtis said goodbye to passengers (in a single day they had become the most famous couple at the ship, to the eternal annoyance of both) and left the harbor on Kurtis' motorbike.

- We need to get to Bucharest as soon as possible. - Lara recalled - and there we should take the road to Brasov, between the Transylvanian Alps and the Carpathians.

_I do not feel like climbing mountains_, Kurtis thought, but he didn't complain. It was not his style.

- Have you discovered something about the Amazonian? – he said then.

- Nothing. What has to do a warrior girl from Greek mythology with a race of hybrids from the Jewish mythology? They are like day and night. But I will not give up. I have to find the connection.

- You will not enjoy the result.

- What?

Kurtis stopped the motorbike and turned to look at her.

- I decided not to tell you about this until being sure about it, but after what happened on the boat, it does not make sense.

- Tell me what?

- Who is the Amazonian.

Gunderson entered the building. He felt like the earth swallowing him up when he saw Karel waiting in the hall, until his face was unexpressive.

- Master.

- Your work at Cappadocia was _magnificent_. – said Karel sarcastically - A pair of idiots leaved you and your men locked up in an excavation. How many guys had you? Fifteen? Twenty?

- Thirty, Master.

- Oh, brilliant .- the Nephilim said, rolling his eyes - Maybe next time I'll hire a fire brigade, at least they are _supposed_ to know to extinguish a fire.

- Master - protested Gunderson - we were trapped. We would have come quickly if we hadn't been attacked by a herd of manticores!

- I sent those manticores _myself_. - Karel said. – To punish your ineptitude.

Gunderson felt shocked. _This monster is a sadist. He wants to kill us all_.

- Excuse me, but I can't understand our role in this story.

- You're just a pawn. - Karel said – You'll be the bait to hinder the Lux Veritatis and the woman as long enough until I completed my plan.

_How __nice_, thought Gunderson, _I love it_.

- What should I do now?

- Chase them. Hinder them. From the thirty men you were, you have still enough men to serve to my purpose. Remember, I do _not_ want you to hurt them, especially the woman. I know that a Greek terrorist attacked her recently. Your mission will be to avoid that from now.

_What? __To protect that whore?_

- You mean to chase them and at the same time, to protect them, Master?

- It will be the grand strategy of your life, Gunderson. You must hinder them until they will not be sure of where will be their enemies and where the allies. And when we get them separated... I will do _myself_ the rest.

In a pub at the suburbs of Bucharest, Lara and Kurtis were sitting in the darkest part of the establishment, arguing quietly and looking askance at who went too close to their table.

It was impossible for the locals to understand them, because they were talking in French. English was too widespread, so anyone who wanted to be unnoticed must avoid it in a capital city.

- How it's possible I didn't noticed before! - said Lara - I'm losing my instinct. "Amazonian" was a _metaphorical_ word. .

During all her life, the mass media (which she hated so much) had compared her to a brave Amazonian. And she still remembered Eckhardt's words in the Strahov, where he had been waiting for her.

_Congratulations, m__iss Croft, you are positively Amazonian. __That Vault has defeated us for months._

- The Nephilim used to be guided by metaphors and prophecies .- said Kurtis-, an aspect that could be criticized as a weak point if they hadn't had that damned instinct that matches with all their machinations. He probably had chosen you a long time before the murder of your mentor.

Lara could not bear that she was the centerpiece of the Karel's plan. Kurtis had also revealed to her an ancient Cabal's prophecy:

_And __the Amazonian will cause Nephilim's defeat, but her fate is to give birth to the race that she will attempt to destroy, in vain._

So encouraging.

- He has been manipulating me since the beginning. - she said, banging on the table with her fist. Some clients of the bar turned to look at her, but she ignored them - I'm sick of him! It's over. I can't believe that Karel is so stupid to think he can put a finger on me. And all that because of a stupid prophecy!

- You must _not_ underestimate Karel, Lara - said Kurtis. - I've not faced him yet, but if he's really a Nephilim as you said, then I can assure you that Eckhardt was _nothing_ compared to him.

She arose, seeming visibly upset. Every step they made was controlled by Karel and serving to his intentions, but they had no choice.

- We must go. Whe are in disadvantage. I'll ask the barman what is the quickest way out to the north.

Kurtis went out of the bar and sat on his motorbike, searched into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. The bar's door was open and so he saw and heard exactly what happened next.

Lara came to ask the barman. While he was giving her some information, a middle-aged man, quite fat, passed behind her and dropped some Romanian words that made everyone in the bar to burst in laughters.

Kurtis did not understand Romanian, but according to Lara's face expression, _that_ was an intolerable obscenity. But to make things worse, those man had the insolence to follow the sentence with an intense spank on her ass.

Under normal circumstances, Lara would not have taken that with _so much_ energy. But that day she was caught in a very, very bad mood.

The barman would never forget how that tall and athletic woman threw the man against the slot machine by punching him on the face. The impact was so brutal that it silenced the laughters at once. The guy remained sprawled on the floor, unable to move.

A cigarette dropped from Kurtis's open mouth.

Lara took a deep breath, removed the hair on her face and, after giving a sweet smile to the customers, she left the bar with the greatest elegance.

- What did he say? – asked Kurtis later, when he recovered from the impression.

- It's not emyour/em business, Mr. Trent. - she said without losing her charming smile- And you must know that I remember _perfectly_ what happened at the Louvre: consider yourself very, _very_ lucky.


	6. Chapter 6: The Romanian professor

**Chapter 6: The Romanian ****professor**

Bran's castle, despite of what one might think, did not seem a typical dark fortress where to hide neither a Nephilim, nor a count Dracula; since it was an elegant summer palace, with white walls and red roofs. It seemed to be a unique monument, sitting proudly on a rocky cliff, overlooking the view of Brasov, which is considered the most beautiful city in Romania.

Professor Vladimir Ivanoff had spent so many years studying Bran and had become an expert on the subject. He had taken so much love to the castle that he saw tourists as invaders that threatened the continuity of the royal monument. In his fear, he spent whole days there, instructing, counseling and chiding guides and tourists so much, so that locals said that the coincidence of the Transylvanian count with the professor went beyond the name.

That day a couple of tourists called his attention. They were a man and a woman, foreigners without doubt. The woman, dressed in shorts and top, was an authentic beauty, despite of her bandaged arm. She was holding the arm of a man who seemed a dangerous guy: he had such expression in the face that had soured fresh milk. She, however, was talking at him naturally and charming.

_I'__ll follow to these ones_, decided Ivanoff, and slighted behind them.

- Excuse me - he said – do you need a guide for the castle?

The man stared at him, inexpressive, but she smiled.

- We would like to find an expert on the subject. - she said shaking his hand.

- You found it. I'm Professor Vladimir Ivanoff. - he replied – It's a pleasure, miss...

- Croft. - Lara said.

- Lara Croft?

- The same one.

Professor Ivanoff then felt panic. Everyone knew that Lara Croft used not to leave a stone unturned. Moreover, recently she has not been picking up a very good reputation...

- Nice to meet you in person. - he continued. - If you want to follow me I'll lead you through the rooms of the castle.

- It would be a pleasure. - Lara smiled.

The professor then looked at the man.

- I do not remember your name, sir.

- That's because I haven't told you. - he replied dryly.

Lara gave a slight nudge to him.

- Excuse my colleague. - she said – We had an accident a couple of days and he is somewhat tense.

_Some__what tense? He has almost bitten me_, thought Ivanoff, and proceeded to guide them across the monument.

- _What_ are you doing? - Lara whispered to him as they followed the professor.

- This guy is insufferable – Kurtis growled- We'll have him after us all day. Let's get rid of him.

- Yes, just what we need: another murder!

- I'm not talking about killing him! A blow on the head...

- At the moment he seems useful. We'll see...

As it was explaining the professor, the fortress had been remodeled between 1920 and 1930 for becoming a royal residence. The luxurious rooms were communicated by narrow staircases. There were elegant furnishings and tapestries, protected by a silk cord that prevented tourists' access.

- The high crenellated tower windows just show stems from the very edge of the rock, so that any attempt to attack is doomed to failure. The defensive role is repeated in the pleasant courtyard, under whose source lies a labyrinth of underground passages. – was saying Ivanoff.

_Under__ground passages_, Lara thought, _that's interesting_.

After passing a room, a curious tapestry called her attention. It represented a demonic figure in front of a beautiful woman dressed in rags, and between them a glowing monk.

- What does it mean? - Lara asked the professor.

- Bah, that's a very stupid legend.- Ivanoff said - Have you heard about the Nephilim and Lux Veritatis?

- I have some idea. - she smiled.

- It's about a prophecy. The Nephilim triumphs over the monk, who is an alleged member of Lux Veritatis, and then the demon takes for himself the so-called Amazonian, who is that woman. It's somewhat funny, huh?

Kurtis and Lara looked at each other.

- Look, I think I'm starting to laugh. - Kurtis snorted with sarcasm.

- Ignorance is bold. – said the professor - Of course, this is nonsense like all old legends, since both Lux Veritatis and the Nephilim are not real. But hey, it seems you have no idea what I'm talking about.

- You'd be surprised to see how much I'm aware of the issue. - Kurtis replied slowly.

Lara gave him another nudge, but then the professor intervened again.

- Haha! I love it. Watch what you say, because if here were only one member of Lux Veritatis, I would kiss his feet and I'll crawl at his presence.

Kurtis' smirk widened into an evil smile. Lara decided that something had gone too far and pulled the arm of her partner.

- Wow, how late we are! We will come back another day.

And they went away, leaving the astonished teacher. When they were out, Kurtis said:

- What a pity, it would have been funny to give him a lesson.

- Funny but indiscreet. - she said - We'll take care of him. I think the key is in that tapestry, but while having tourists and professors in the middle, we can do anything.

- Well - he said - Tonight we could play to assault on the castle.

Gunderson put on his gloves and loaded his machine gun. Karel's orders were clear.

_Tonight__ they'll enter into Bran's castle to find the information they need. You know what to do. _

He spent some time reviewing his men. They were fifteen, exactly those that remained after the Cappadocia's slaughter. That damned manticores had known very well when to stop killing.

He was angry and frustrated. To discover that blond man (whom he regarded as the favourite of Eckhardt, the true Master) was actually the center, beginning and end of the Cabal, was a shock for him. Not only Eckhardt had been manipulated by Karel as a pawn, but when he was no longer necessary, that Nephilim had used the British explorer to kill him.

So now he was a Nephilim's servant, who was forced to call him "Master", a name that in his opinion was only worthy for the Dark Alchemist.

_Once __I've finished with all this_ - thought Gunderson _- I'll take my revenge_.

No matter that Eckhardt had served Karel until death. No matter that Gunderson had given himself to the Cabal, in body and soul, lured by promises of immortality that –he already knew- will never be fulfilled. As Kurtis said, Marten Gunderson had spent his life selling himself to the highest bidder. At last, after all, what else a mercenary is supposed to do?

Lara put an ear on Kurtis' door room at the hotel. She heard running water. He must be in the shower.

Night was falling, and they had everything planned to enter the castle. It had been a couple of hours planning, developing strategies and possible ways to circumvent the poor security of the monument. But now Lara, as always she was doing nothing, was bored to tears, so she found herself spying like a naughty schoolgirl.

_Bah, as if this guy had something to be spied on_, she thought, but she did not move from her place.

The shower faucet was closed. She heard footsteps.

_But what __the hell are you doing? Get out!,_ Lara said to herself, but instead she leaned a little against the door to hear well.

And then, with a creak, the door opened wide.

Lara landed on all fours in the middle of the room.

- Damned door! – she shouted, jumping up like a cat.

In the center of the room, Kurtis, soaked with a towel tied around the waist, was staring at her.

If Lara Croft had been able to blush, at those moments her face would be red to the ears, but that was not her style.

- So what? - Lara snapped, lifting the chin.

- I was hoping you'd say it. - he said, grinning to avoid laughing.

Lara ran a hand through his hair and looked distractedly around.

- I was passing by when this dumpy old door has been opened... not alone, of course ... I have relied on it...

- Did you wanted something? - he said, folding his arms across his bare chest.

- Yes. – she said, and quickly pointed to his wound - In fact, I thought it would be better to remove your wound's stitches. You have been having them too long.

Even the most stupid excuse sounded reasonable on her lips, thought Kurtis.

- Thanks, Mom. – he said wryly - but I think I'll have the stitches away by myself.

- Oh, really? - Lara said glaring at him - then let's see _how_ you're going to remove those at your back. It will be a phenomenon of contortion.

He rolled his eyes.

- Okay, okay. Could I get dressed, at least?

- If you need ... - she said, looking at her nails.

When he got inside the room, Lara went to search Iodine, cotton and scissors, as she thought about a phrase that Von Croy had often said when he taught her:

_Seriously__, my girl, if you don't go into the trouble by yourself, the trouble comes to find you_.

Kurtis, lying on the couch, left Lara to remove the stitches (reluctantly), which according to its slight swelling, were there too long. Lara, with nimble fingers, cut the stitch and pulled it with her characteristic energy (and the required type of healing), causing great pain in him.

- You're killing me. - Kurtis lamented.

- You're a complainer, Mr. Trent. - Lara smiled – Have you really ever been to the Foreign Legion, or it was in a kindergarten?

- That was at the Legion, and you should know that I was about to be promoted when I was expelled.

- Why did they fire you? - Lara said, remembering that she had been expelled from the British Army for having used a tank to pick up an ambassador (which was a bet with her room mates).

Kurtis made another grin.

- It's _no_t your business, miss Croft.

Lara took a stronger pull on the next stitch. She had already removed all from the stomach.

- You'll get a bad scar. - she said.

The truth was that it would be a _really_ horrible scar, as the wound had been so terrible. A red and swollen line that will mark forever the spot where Boaz's sting went across.

- No matter. - he replied - Yet another one to be like Frankenstein.

And he turned to show his back. The stitches there were still thicker, and the scar looked even worse than in his stomach. Lara could not understand how he could have survived to that... nor she could understand why that mysterious sect had done everything to save his life. At the end, and although she didn't want to admit it, she was more than grateful to them for having saved his life.

- By the way - she said, while was still removing stitches - I have never thanked you for helping me to escape from Boaz. You had not to do that, it must haven been you who should have killed Eckhardt. I guess, seeing what happened to you, that you should be sorry.

Kurtis smiled, resting on the pillow.

- No way. I would do it again.

There was something on his voice that made Lara to remain still, with opened scissors. Then she sharply cut the last stitch and removed it. She got up, quickly picked up the material and said:

- Be ready in half an hour. The sooner we finish with this, the better.

She came out slamming the door, and thanked that Kurtis was upside down and had not seen her face.

Professor Ivanoff took off his glasses and dropped them on the book, while yawning. It was late, it would be better to sleep.

For months he was granted permission to stay overnight in one of the disabled rooms of the castle, in order to study _in situ_, he had said, but actually he did not trust the security systems.

That night events proved that he was right.

When he looked out the tiny window, he saw two figures moving in the dark down there. Actually, he just heard no noise, but when he thought he had dreamed it, he saw them again.

One was agile and slender. The other seemed heavy and stronger.

- Thieves! – he thought – Should I call the police?

_No_, he decided. The police were incompetent, as everyone knew. Moreover, the idea of seeing the entire police force running around _his_ castle made him feel sick. It would be better to be him who would throw away those two thieves.

He turned off the light and slipped out of the room. Then he thought it would be better to be armed and caught for the only weapon at his disposal: a small Swiss Army knife.

_That's enough_, he thought, and he went across the corridor.

He'll soon discover that he was going to need more than a Swiss army knife to confront the two "thieves".


	7. Chapter 7: The Tapestry

**Chapter 7: The tapestry**

Lara and Kurtis, dressed in tight black clothes, quietly made their plan: it was vital to avoid any scandal. They had studied during the day the castle's security systems, which were ridiculous: the gates were protected by alarms, but not the windows, because who would be able to squeeze through so tall and narrow windows?

Lara Croft, for example.

She slipped quietly into the back of the castle at the foot of the cliff. Hidden among the lush, she hook and pulled out a pistol shot into the roof of the tower. The rope was attached and hanging to the ground.

Lara grabbed and began to climb the cliff to reach the base of the tower. She examined the windows that were within reach and chose the one that seemed wider. She stood before it and, pushing, kicked hard. But the bars were shut tight. She had to broke it.

She rocked several times to get impulse, and finally lunged at the window with all her strength. The aged wood yielded at her kicks and broke, while letting go the rope and falling into the room, thankfully, on an XVIII century's overstuffed couch that cushioned the impact.

She got up, pulled the rope and went downstairs. It took a few minutes to switch off the alarm (great mountain technology), and then she opened the door to Kurtis.

- That scandal was made by you? - he said- What have you broken this time?

Before Lara could reply, a figure emerged from the darkness and faced them. It was Professor Ivanoff, wielding a ridiculous Swiss Army knife.

- I knew it - shouted triumphantly- Thieves and terrorists! You won't stole anything!

Lara and Kurtis stared at him... and then Ivanoff realized that he had a gun under his arm... not to mention Lara: the two guns holstered on her hips, the long knife in her thigh and the machine gun slung over her shoulder.

_No matter_, the professor encouraged himself, _I rely on surprise factor_.

But something was wrong. They didn't seem very surprised. In fact, Lara turned her attention back to Kurtis and said:

- Pass me the torch. You know, I'm going to study the tapestry and you explore the galleries beneath the courtyard...

- Are you ignoring me? - the professor yelled angrily.

Lara looked back to him and smiled patiently:

- Professor, stop waving that fruit peeler or you'll hurt yourself.

Those word, in addition of Kurtis' grin, were too much. Losing his patience, Ivanoff began to make several disordered lunges with the knife:

- Enough! Go back! Go back! I have a knife and I would not hesitate to use it!

- Excuse me - Kurtis said - What did you say? A knife?

The man went before the teacher and, clutching the belt slowly and deliberately, took a strange metal disk, which put near his eyes. As if by the devil's work was, five sharp blades opened with a snap, one of which stopped only a few inches from the professor's nose.

- This is a knife .- Kurtis snapped.

Ivanoff dropped his knife, terrified.

- Enough .- Lara sighed, exasperated - We are wasting time. Get rid of him.

The professor screamed in terror when Kurtis grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down the hall towards to an old wardrobe. He jerked and threw the little man in while ignoring his protests.

- And if I hear the least scandal –Kurtis told, pointing at him with the Chirugai -I will come to make you a demonstration with _this_.

He slammed the door and turned the key. Then he threw it out the window.

When he returned to Lara, she already had a map of the castle and was watching it on the floor by the light of the lantern.

- He will not bother us for now. – said Kurtis.

Lara smiled as she folded the map.

- You've been a little hard with that poor man.

- Bah, I haven't do anything to him.

They departed and went each one by their way, disappearing into the darkness.

The courtyard was lit by dim moonlight. As Kurtis expected, the well placed on its center was sealed, but he had no problem in breaking the lock with a shot and remove the wooden lid of a boost. He went into the hole and descended slowly into the darkness, clinging to the iron rings that served as stairs on that dry well.

At the bottom, he stepped on a wet and muddy ground. He lit the lantern and walked half hunched over the narrow tunnel. As it was usual in often branched passages, Kurtis was guided by the logic of always choosing the left side, since the Nephilim had always been guided by that criteria and the count _Drakul_ was not an exception.

The corridor ended abruptly in a door of rotten wood by moisture. With a single push he snapped off its hinges and fell to the ground.

He was in a torture chamber.

The cell was close and gave off a horrible stench. There were various instruments, just rotten, including some among that Kurtis recognized the rack, the wheel blades and the strappade.

Why Vlad Tepes, who had always been proud to show his sadism in public, had rigged a hidden place like this?

Then, suddenly, Kurtis had a hunch. He looked around and felt _that place _wanted to talk with him and to reveal the terrible events that took place there.

He sat on the muddy ground, adopted the lotus position and put his hands on his knees. He took a deep breath and looked down.

What he was going to do was really dangerous and he knew it. His mind would wander and if he could become an empty body, without will. But it was the gift which had him to become a Lux Veritatis. He spent too much time refusing to use it, and now that made no sense.

He closed his eyes and sent his mind far away from his body, propelling centuries ago, back in time...

After a moment, Lara found herself before the grand tapestry. The truth is that it was a beauty, but what it represented was cruel, and caused in her some kind of revulsion.

The Amazonian, her clothes torn, had her face disfigured in an expression of rage and impotence as the Nephilim (Vlad Tepes-faced) clutched her by the hair. In one corner, the Lux Veritatis, defeated, was kneeling with his head bowed. However, he seemed a mysterious shining knight.

As if he were defeated, but not destroyed.

Over the heads of the characters, there were depicted an hourglass and a scythe surrounded by a Latin phylactery. Lara was amazed since she had not expected to see the language of Lux Veritatis used in a tapestry made for the glorification of the Nephilim. The sentence was:

**OMNIA VULNERANT, ULTIMA NECAT**

Lara knew that. It was a famous and old saying used among the Romans. Translated to her language it meant _"All them wound, the last one kills"_ referring to the hours of a person's life... so it was a very pessimistic view of life.

That phrase had little to do with the subject matter, but Lara was sure there was something more. She went to the tapestry (made in velvet rope) and patted the excellent manufacturing.

What if there was something in the tapestry?

She felt the edges. It was a big square piece with a considerable thickness. Ideal if you could hide something in wood that served as a support.

Lara pulled out her knife, ready to make a lateral cut and look inside.

A familiar voice stopped her.

- Be careful, miss Croft - said Gunderson. - That tapestry has over five hundred years.


	8. Chapter 8: Loanna Von Skopf

**Chapter 8: Loanna Von Skopf**

Lara remained still for a moment, considering her options. Then she turned speedily, drew her weapons and opened fired at close range.

Gunderson threw himself down and his men (there were five) dodged the blasts, but also pounced on her to reduce her movements. She, seeing herself cornered, jumped over them, flipped in the air, landed at the other side and darted towards the door.

- Follow her - yelled Gunderson, taking the walkie-talkie – To the other side: the woman goes to you!

Lara sprinted down the hall, as the bullets rained down around her and smashed furniture, vases and mirrors. When she reached the spiral stairs, she stopped, panting, to hear another group of mercenaries going up quickly towards her.

She was trapped again. But not defeated yet.

She returned on her steps and grabbed the machine gun. She faced those who came after her and opened fire on them.

This time two fell.

Taking advantage of their confusion, she jumped over the corpses and disappeared towards another corridor.

- Sir! - shouted one of the mercenaries, with an injured leg - This is madness! She's going to kill us all!

- Use the damned gas grenades! - Gunderson said in reply.

Lara arrived, exhausted, into another room. She quickly closed the door, locked it and with a kick she broke the lock, leaving a half piece of the key in.

- With this you'll have for a while. - she gasped, and pulled out the map to locate herself.

She had to return to the tapestry's room. She was not stupid since she had noticed that the mercenaries were shooting without pointing to hurt her. They were just annoying her.

_Karel wants me alive_.

She dismissed the thought and concentrated on the map. It would take a good round to return next to the tapestry. And surely someone of them would be waiting for her.

Suddenly, she noticed that she could not breathe and started coughing. Looking around, she saw a green light slipping through the gas under the door.

Damn. And this was not the Louvre. There was no closet containing gas masks into some laboratory.

She turned away from the gas and entered the next room. That damned castle was a maze of communicated chambers.

- Not a labyrinth, - she whispered as she went downstairs – but a trap!

_Kurtis' mind drifted over time. Suddenly, he stopped and focused on a scene._

_Count Vlad Tepes was entering in some luxurious castle's room. At one end of the room there was a beautiful woman weaving a tapestry with trembling fingers._

_Not any tapestry. That tapestry._

_Kurtis recognized the woman; she was the same that appeared there, as the Amazionan. She was pregnant._

_The woman's face was congested because of so much mourning. But in her tears were not sadness._

_There were rage. There were anger and helplessness._

_Dracula came to her and stroked his silky blonde hair. She shuddered._

_- Loanna... - he muttered - My Amazonian ..._

_She turned away, disgusted, and drove a long needle into his arm. Then he angrily slapped her._

_Loanna arose, very dignified, and she stood up to challenge him._

_- You're a monster. Would you know how your people call to you? Drakul! The Devil!_

_Vlad shrugged as he pulled the needle._

_- And they're right. They fear and revere me. You, however, dare to challenge me. As soon as you meet the birth's day I'll finish with you._

_- You'll not have your damned offspring. - she swore – Before that I'll kill myself._

_Dracula laughed. His henchmen were watching over her through day and night. It was impossible for her to escape from her doomed fate._

_Say what you want. - he said - Just finish this tapestry._

Lara finally came back to the tapestry's room... and what she saw left her breathless. Not because of the toxic gas, but because the beautiful piece was burning.

- No! – she shouted and lunged at it, which was giving off black smoke.

Gunderson –that bastard!- had ordered to burn it in order to prevent Lara to investigate more. And without the tapestry there was no way to find the key that will lead her to the True Option.

Flames were consuming the tapestry speedy. Lara knew there was no attempt to quell the fire, but she still pulled a curtain and began to whip the focus of combustion.

And then she saw it.

After the burned wires it appeared something. It was a secret compartment made with fabric lining, which had also burned, and revealed a small drawer. However, the drawer was empty. There was nothing inside.

She was so surprised that she did not hear anyone approaching from behind.

A pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind. She discussed, furious and tried to take up arms, but then another pair of hands snatched her guns and shrapnel ripped her shoulder.

Lara turned her hips and slammed a side kick to the stomach of a mercenary who had disarmed her. To his misfortune he fell squarely within the tapestry and began to burn with it.

Gunderson was holding her. The pressure on his arms became so intense that she began to notice tingling. She writhed like an eel, but his captor, who was strong, not gave her up.

Be quiet, bitch. - he whispered at her ear - You're a hard nut to crack, huh? Now you'll use as a bait to attract your friend.

_The scene changed suddenly, and Kurtis found himself in the torture chamber, but the machines were new, spotless, and there was a prisoner hanging from the strappade._

_He was the Lux Veritatis who appeared on the tapestry._

_Vlad Tepes, aka Drakul, was watching the scene as if watching a minstrel dance. He was cheerful and smiled at the suffering of his captive._

_- You're really obstinate. - the Count said – Even you know you've lost. Why do you insist in not to tell me the True Option? Your Order is doomed._

_- Someone… - gasped the prisoner - Someone will fix our mistakes._

_Vlad laughed. Yes, there were still many Lux Veritatis, but he would ensure that there was no one left. No one left._

_- Tell me again about that Option, or you will suffer._

_- I have suffered enough._

_- Oh, I can make you suffer even more. I can indefinitely prolong your agony, you warrior monk._

_The tortured man looked up, and Kurtis would have sworn that he was looking directly at him. But that was not possible. He was not there... at least not in corporeal form._

_- In the center of a large field of possibilities - recited the monk, like a learned lesson - only one is true. Who knows it will be able to give life or death to any of the two rivals, Lux Veritatis, or Nephilim, without the other succumbing to the death of one._

_He looked away and stared at his tormentor._

_- You, Nephilim… you had some knowledge about that... but you corrupted yourselves and forgot about that. We… however, we have never known about it._

_- You're lying! - Vlad Drakul spat._

_- Only an angel could know it. - replied the monk. – You'll never know the truth, Drakul. If a Nephilim kills a Lux Veritatis, the Nephilim dies with him, and viceversa. We are two sides of the same coin. And when it will be only one left on both sides... they will have to rely on each other._

_An angry Vlad went towards him._

_- Stop telling nonsense. I won. I have the Amazonian. Loanna is mine and I need to have my kin. The Prophecy has been fulfilled._

_The tortured prisoner smiled through his cracked lips._

_Loanna... you've defeated her, but it would not be her who will cause the destruction of your race. Another one will appear... another one that you won't beat... she will discover the True Option... and that will destroy your kin._

It was like a blow. Like a flash. Kurtis' mind went back and returned to his body with such violence that he couldn't control it. The emotional impact hit him and knocked him to the ground.

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his runaway heartbeat. Then he rose, dripping slime for all sides, and left that place with faltering steps.

An alien force had expelled him from his mental view. Someone had prevented him to go further in his revelation.

He had to talk with Lara. Even if she didn't want to believe him. It was time to confess her the truth about him... and about herself.

Upon leaving the pit, he heard gunshots, and saw a poisonous gas blasts seeping through the castle.

- Gunderson. That son of a bitch again.- he murmured.

Everything was filled with toxic gas. He was forced to bend and move slowly.

And then he heard Lara.

She was screaming with a sharp and prolonged cry of pain.


	9. Chapter 9: The Manuscript

Chapter 9: The Manuscript

Gunderson twisted her arm a little more. Lara didn't struggle any more, because making that will only increase the pain. She tightened her teeth.

I think that he still hasn't heard you – Gunderson whispered.

Go to hell! - she shouted.

I see. Well, because as the young lady resists making her friend come, it will be necessary to use a more convincing method.

He called a mercenary. This one, following Gunderson's instructions, unholstered Lara's knife from her thigh and approached it to a small flame that was burning on a chair. Almost all the wall had burned already, so Gunderson dragged his prey next to the window. He would not leave the room until strictly necessary. The mercenary who was burning had left fleeing surrounded by flames towards the door. Gunderson doubted that he could have saved himself. The other mercenary removed the knife, whose edge now was red hot.

Well, miss Croft - Gunderson added – We'll see if you fight so _efficiently_ with only one eye left...

The mercenary approached the incandescent blade to Lara's face. But he could not blind her. A whistling, orange sparkling object appeared among them with such precision that it cleanly amputated the mercenary's hand, splashing his blood in Lara's face. The mercenary began to scream, watching alternatively the bloody trunnion in which now finished his arm and his own hand, thrown in the ground and still grasping the knife.

Gunderson pushed Lara, hurling her against the wall, and he threw himself to the ground to avoid a new attack of the Chirugai, which was close to clip his neck. The disc returned immediately at the hand of its owner, who was standing at the door. His eyes seemed to burn with the flames that impregnated the room.

We see us again, Trent. - Gunderson said.

Lara tried to clean the mercenary's blood from her face, visibly disgusted. She rose, still stunned by the blow, and gathered her knife.

It seems that you've run out of men - Kurtis said, seeing the mutilated mercenary to leave fleeing and still screaming in pain.

Lows of war - the other said – You're those who are in disadvantage.

I would not say so much. You cannot kill us. The monster for which you work wants us both alive.

Not you, Trent. He only wants her.

Lara placed herself next to Kurtis, using the incandescent edge, although still she had a sore arm.

If you kill me, Karel will die. Only we're left one of each side. Or your beloved Master has not told you this tale?

Gunderson loosen an outburst of laughter.

He knows the True Option. He surpasses to you and he will not die with you, you moron.

Lara listened to them in silence, with frowning her face.

If he knew it already, he would have taken control of her – Kurtis said, indicating to Lara with a gesture of the head- He didn't know nothing either.

Lara took part then:

We must leave! This is going to burn by the four flanks!

And it was true. The furniture, in spite of being old and wood made, had held enough good, but now the flames had propagated and the heat was unbearable, in addition of which as soon as it was possible to be breathed.

Kurtis agreed and picked up the Boran. Almost immediately, the sirens began to ring themselves from the outside. They were the police and the firemen of Brasov. The fire and the scandal that had armed Gunderson's guys must have waked up to all the city.

Go back and fight like a man! - shouted Gunderson.

The police will take care better of you – Kurtis said, mocking on him, and followed Lara.

While they were running downstairs, Lara related to Kurtis about the secret compartment under the tapestry.

There was something, and somebody take it!

I'm afraid - Kurtis said - that this "somebody" is going to be our dear friend Ivanoff.

Lara agreed, too much tired to speak. They had the right time to arrive until Ivanoff before the police did.

(…)

Vladimir Ivanoff smiled hopeful when he heard the sirens of the police.

They have come to rescue me! Eeeeeh! SOS! Here I am!

Inexplicably, the closet's door exploded in pieces. And who appeared in front of him was not a police.

No! - he shouted, terrified as he protected himself with his arms - Noooo! Not you again!

Yes, that's me again. - Kurtis said, and he removed him by a pull – Walk and be quiet, since nobody is going to hear you.

(…)

Ivanoff's apartment was a mess. The dust covered bookcases and tables and the books lay forgotten since he had been living at the castle. Forced at gunpoint, the poor professor had to lead Lara and Kurtis there, and now they were sit in his rich couches, while the victim watched frightened at his detectors.

What you are going to do to me? – Ivanoff stammered.

He was already convinced that those were a pair of savages. Their present aspect did not contribute to improve his vision: Kurtis was smeared of mud and Lara still had rests of other people's blood in the face.

We don't want to hurt you – Lara said- We're only looking for information which surely you have.

You expect me to help you? - he said - To help you, who have destroyed and set afire my castle? Who have locked up me like a dog? To help you and to help that... that... - he said, pointing Kurtis with a trembly finger- that freak, who has reduced a door to pieces?

Certainly – Kurtis said - fear does _not_ affect to his tongue at all.

The professor shrank. Lara looked at Kurtis and thought that Ivanoff was a bit right. Kurtis was _not_ an ordinary man. And it was too little what she knew about him.

We didn't set afire the castle - continued Lara- but Marten Gunderson's mercenaries, who is our rival's right hand, Joachim Karel.

And you couldn't look for another scene for your skirmishes, could you? - the professor lamented himself - _My beautiful castle! _

Lara looked at Kurtis again as she said to him:

We will have to trust him. Tell him everything.

I can't wait. - he corroborated.

To tell me what?

Lara inclined herself towards Ivanoff and fixed on him her brown eyes.

After having heard this, you won't be feeling the same again.

(…)

Ivanoff could not believe what was hearing. It could not be real. It had to be a joke.

But... – he stammered - but everybody knows that both Nephilim and Lux Veritatis are a legend! They are not real. Or you're making fun of me, or those Karel and Eckhardt are mocking of you.

Kurtis take a deep breath, but Lara took part before he exploded:

We are _not_ joking, Ivanoff. So many innocent people have died in a horrible way because of _that legend_, among them his father – she said pointing at Kurtis - and my mentor, professor Werner Von Croy.

It seems that the psychopath you're talking about believes in those nonsenses, but he only need to be put in jail.

_To put him __in jail?_ - then Kurtis exploded - Karel is a _Nephilim_! There are _no_ bars able to stop him! If someone is about to be in hail, that's Lara, since she has been charged on all the atrocities made by that monster!

Ivanoff stared at him and then agreed, shocked. He meditated a moment in silence, and soon he said:

So, if that Karel wants to fulfill the prophecy and for that he has chosen miss Croft to be his Amazonian, who is supposed to be the Lux Veritatis that must avoid that?

Kurtis felt surprised when he discovered that he didn't want to answer that, although it meant to give a lesson to that insufferable asshole. But Lara remained silent as she looked at him, waiting for his answer.

It's me. - he said finally.

Ivanoff's mouth opened to ears as he remained watching at him with a stupid expression of disagreement.

Oh, no. - he whispered, and he dropped his head between his hands – You again.

Lara smiled discretely.

Kurtis rose the sleeve of his jersey until showing his shoulder. There was a tattoo, rather coarse, which depicted something like a sharpened anchor. Lara already had seen the symbol when she took care of him, but then she had thought if it was a simple tattoo. So it was now when she remembered that she already had seen it in the Von Croy's notebool: that was the symbol of Lux Veritatis. Of course, it was not the typical tattoo of fairs and swap-meets.

Then... that door's explosion... - stammered Ivanoff – Are you an _authentic_ Lux Veritatis? With supernatural powers and all that?

I'm not going to answer such _stupid_ question. – Kurtis replied, covering his tattoo.

Lara took part again.

Now you know that we're serious. We must find the True Option so that the balance inclines in favor of Kurtis. We thought that the tapestry would reveal the following point to us, as well as the Golden Seal had lead us up to here, in Romania. But under the tapestry it appeared an empty compartment.

And what makes you think that I know something about that?

Kurtis and Lara had, at the same time, an intense desire to rush themselves on him and to strangle him. It was hard to convince that goddamned man.

Only you have been investigating the castle. What was in the compartment?

_And i__f you lie to me I'll beat your dirty face,_ added Lara in silence. But Ivanoff sighed, and finally, decided to collaborate.

There was a manuscript made by Loanna Von Skopf's hand, who was slave and concubine of Vlad Tepes, the Impaler.


	10. Chapter 10: The Amazonian's story

**Chapter 10: The Amazonian's story**

Ivanoff rose and lead his "guests" to a transparencies projector. He switched on it and placed several transparencies on the panel. They showed a Latin writing with tremble handwriting, quite and difficult to understand.

Loanna knew to speak, to read and to write in Latin – he began to explain – She was a very cultivated woman. She was the daughter of a Croatian feudal gentleman, so when she was born she had been sent to a convent. When she was sixteen years old she was removed from his confinement to marry, but Loanna refused that, and since she was the favourite girl of her father, he allowed her to remain single. Here she relates how she learned to ride, to fight and to handle all type of weapons. She was very skilful with the arc and the sword, something like Joan of Arc.

That's not usual- Lara said – it was more frequent for a woman to be send again to the convent, as people were used to do with the women who refused to marry.

Loanna was different. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find references to her in archives or other sources. She does not exist for History, only in this manuscript.

Lara examined the transparencies closely. Loanna's handwriting was fine and elegant, but as she advanced the writing it became stronger, as if the author received forces. Ivanoff went on:

Loanna narrates with pride how all the people loved her and wanted her to be his father's successor to administrate the county. All they called her _the Amazonian_... for that reason Vlad Tepes chose her, I suppose.

"The Transilvanian count meet her in an expedition that he made to the Croatian land. He tried to kidnap her, but she was defended by her father's warriors. So he decided to put the castle under siege. His troops, composed by bloodthirsty Tartars, were very superior to those of Loanna's father and for weeks they dedicated themselves to burn his fields and to murder all his farmers. Finally, the Impaler gave him an _ultimatum_: he must deliver his daughter, or he would devastate his land until not leaving a stone unturned.

Nobody went to aid them? - Lara said.

They feared too much the Impaler. That wretch delivered his daughter, and he received the death immediately, being impaled together with all his people.

What a motherfucker. - Kurtis commented.

Vlad took Loanna to Bran and she became his slave and concubine. - continued Ivanoff – It was urgent to him to fulfill the prophecy since the Nephilim were being extinguished because of the arduous fight against the Lux Veritatis.

"But then it appeared a member of this Order, who was camouflaged under the aspect of a knight. He was only the able one to face _Drakul_. But the Impaler overcame him, and after torturing him during days, he killed him.

Ivanoff raised the last transparency and showed how the manuscript was abruptly interrupted.

And this is everything what Loanna tells us, with admirable cold blood on the other hand, considering that she was a victim. She did not write more, as you can see, so that's why we do not know if she fulfilled with was expected from her or she died by committing suicide.

What about the original one? - Lara said.

I sent it to Bucharest.

Ivanoff switched off the projector and gathered the transparencies. Lara turned to Kurtis, but he was absent, with a lost glance.

So Karel thinks that you are the Amazonian - Ivanoff commented - That means that Vlad did not fulfilled with his awful intentions, although he chose apparently the suitable woman. Since, in fact, it have been very few women who have such heroic and indomitable profile.

Lara continued looking at Kurtis, who seemed not to be there. Nevertheless, Ivanoff's last sentence made her wrinkle the frown:

Miss Croft... I would not like to be at your skin.

Lara stared at him.

What about the tapestry?

Loanna wove it, forced by Vlad Tepes - Kurtis said suddenly.

Ivanoff looked at the man, surprised.

Then... it seems a kind of double humiliation, because Loanna detested all housewife's workings and she always said that she wished to have born as a man.

And what about the sentence _Omnia vulnerant, ultima necat_? - Lara said.

The professor shrank of shoulders:

Who knows? Maybe it's related with the symbols of the scythe and the sand clock, attributed to the brevity of life and the imminent arrival of death. Maybe _Drakul_ wanted to make a cruel joke, or maybe it was Loanna who, hopeless, relieved her wrath in this fatalistic phrase.

Lara gave back to him the transparencies and said:

We are thankful to you. You have collaborated with us. It would be better for you to disappear for a while, since now you're Karel's target.

Ivanoff shook his head.

But where I'll go? This is my home. No, I will stay here.

It's at your choice. Come on - she said to Kurtis - we can't do more here.

They went towards the door, but then Ivanoff said to Kurtis:

Uh... could you make me a demonstration of your powers? That closet's explosion was amazing... I would like to see something like that again… for example, burst or make fly something.

Kurtis thundered against him with the glance.

Do you think I'm a circus' clown?

Uh... no.

(…)

It was dawning when they returned to the hotel. They were so tired that entered in their respective rooms without interchanging a word. Almost ten hours later, Lara woke up. She had fell asleep without uncover the bed. A fresh breeze entered by the window. She rose, entered the bathroom and had a shower to take off the rests of blood and dirt. Surrounded by a towel, she stayed in front of the mirror and examined the arm that Gunderson had twisted. It was blue, but it was neither broken nor dislocated. While she was extending pomade over the bruise, she felt displeased about the unsuccessful events until that moment. Suddenly, the telephone rang. Lara picked up it and then she heard a familiar voice speaking in Greek:

How are you, miss Croft?

That was the man who had called in the boat, the one that apologized for the Karolis' attack.

Who do you think you are? - Lara shouted - My personal doctor?

I'm sorry for my manners, miss Croft. First of all, I will introduce myself: I'm Minos Axiotis and I'm from Greece.

Obviously, I've noticed already where are you from. – Lara said.

I want to give you a warning. You're in danger.

_Seriously?_ I have no idea about _that_.

Silence came from the other side of the line.

Miss, please don't be so sarcastic. The subject is very serious and you know it. He's using you to discover the information that he need. Mainly, he has much well-taken care of. It's possible that until now you've been able to take care of yourself, but I assure you that a Nephilim is not comparable to the enemies that you have faced during all your life.

But...

He's watching you. Be discreet and, mainly, you _must_ not separate of Mr. Trent. He's the only one who can protect you... and you're the only one who can avoid his death.

Minos hung up the telephone, and Lara, really upset, approached to the window. Suddenly, she remained rigid when watching the street. There was somebody watching her. She recognized him immediately. His white skin, his blond hair, his blue eyes. Black clothed, like Death. Cold and lethal.

Joachim Karel.

He stared at her and smiled. That was an empty smile, without heat, without meaning, so cold that it cut the air. Lara stared at him with rage.

_I __have no fear of you_, she thought in silence.

She closed the window, but then the Nephilim's voice sounded in her mind, as if he had spoken to her.

_F__ear will come. _

She turned again towards the crystal, but he had disappeared. The street was empty, swept by wind.


	11. Chapter 11: The Egyptologist

**Chapter 11: The Egyptologist**

Lara met Kurtis something later, since he'd said to her he had something important to talk about. They sat in the hotel's café. All televisions and radios were reproducing at that moment the previous night's events: Bran's castle had suffered serious fire damages and the police had arrested a suspect, Marten Gunderson, and some of his men. At television appeared professor Ivanoff doing some declarations:

... a great loss for our national patrimony... this terrorist has struck a hard blow to our efforts for the castle's conservation...

Do you think that somebody more could be implied? - said the journalist- The prisoner has declared that were more participants, one of them was a woman...

Nonsense. - Ivanoff said- Only there were that crazy man and his band, when entering the castle I did not see anyone more with them...

Kurtis lighted up a cigarette and said:

Well, at least that filthy mouth is useful to us.

In any case, we are not safe. The sooner we go away, the better for us. - Lara said - What you wanted to tell me?

He reclined in the endorsement of the chair and stared at her:

I discovered something in the network of galleries under the well. A hidden room with torture instruments. Certainly, the place where our friend the Impaler locked up that unfortunate poor man and tortured him until death.

Are you sure about that?

I've seen it. - he said taking a puff to the cigarette - I suppose you'll have already noticed that I'm not an ordinary person.

Lara raised an eyebrow.

Yeah, let me to make a review: you burst doors with a hand gesture, you're able to fall throughout three floors of stairs without hurting you, you made me float towards that platform at Strahov and you have a weapon that seems controlled by your mind. – she tipped the head - Yes, I would say that you're _not_ very normal.

Kurtis made a face.

Circumstances forced me to be indiscreet. But I always try to be unnoticed.

That's a virtue - Lara recognized - I always try to do so, but I never got it.

Well, in your case, it's quite difficult for you to remain unnoticed. - he said smiling at her.

Lara stared at him. Should her assume that he was courting her? Or it was only an irony?

And what leads all this to us? - she cut abruptly.

Kurtis explained to her what he had seen when he sent his mind to the past. Lara listened to him kindly and when he finalized, she said:

Well, we know at least that Ivanoff told us the truth. But that's not really useful for us, since now we have no idea about where to go.

Kurtis was thankful in silence that she hadn't made indiscreet questions to him nor requested absurd demonstrations from him.

We have arrived at a deadlock - Lara sighed, and watched the Golden Seal.

And suddenly, she wide opened her eyes.

Eh!

What?

The Seal!

What happens with the Seal?

Lara removed the ring from his finger and examined it closer.

– It has changed!

And it was certain. The square-shaped seal no longer had an carved map of the Carpathians. Now there was another very different zone.

You didn't told me that the Seal had changed!

Lara, I have no idea about that. Until a few days ago it was nothing more than a current ring for me, a birthday gift.

But it could _not_ be a current ring. The engraving had changed, and Kurtis was wondering himself _when_ it did that. He was accustomed to bring it at his finger and for that reason he had not noticed any change before Lara saw that.

What new place is supposed to be?

Kurtis examined it. Lara smiled.

Do you recognize it?

Is it…?

Exactly.

It was a place full of magic, plenty of mystery and enchantment, with an insurmountable beauty. It was a place where the greatness of an old civilization had left its immortal tracks and still continued fascinating all human being. It was an immortal legacy.

A place that Lara knew very well, and in spite of the bad experiences that she had lived there, a place whose name she pronounced like a place which you are glad to return to see.

Egypt, Kurtis. - she said, smiling widely - Egypt!

(…)

Cairo's airport was plenty of people. Tourists of all nationalities were coming to enjoy the country's beauties, since it was high season, winter, when the heat in Egypt is bearable. In summer that could reach fifty degrees on the shadow, reason why the tourists took advantage of this interval to make their trips.

Lara and Kurtis were thankful for that abundance of people who contributed to nobody paying attention to them, although they had all the dot of being what they were: a pair of adventurers who circulated around the mounted streets of the capital in a flaming motorbike. The trip in airplane from Bucharest had been terrible (Lara had to pass with a false identity in order not to raise suspicions), but they had passed the journey discussing which was the concrete site the Seal indicated to them. The star was located in some point near the oasis of Al-Fayoum, famous by its tombs of Roman times and the pictures that these contained.

But Lara did not think that the real site had nothing to do with Ancient Egypt. The facets of that country were so many, and the tourists only knew that one. What they were looking for was, depending if it were another Nephilim bastion or it were a territory of Lux Veritatis, older or more recent than the period of the great empires.

When we arrive we'll clarify all that - Kurtis said - Now is time to leave this damn city.

Wait - said Lara, touching him on the shoulder - I have a contact that will help us.

Who?

An old friend.

(…)

Jean Yves had spent so many years settled down in Egypt, which was his home. He lived in a lost small house in some point between Karnak and Luxor, but he also had a study in Alexandria and an office in Cairo's Museum.

That day he had spent hours negotiating with Zahi Hawass about the reaperture of Keop's Pyramid, which had been closed to the public without apparent reasons. Nevertheless, the Egyptian archaeologist had refused to take care of reasons, and the pyramid would follow closed indefinitely.

After leaving the Museum, Jean dried the sweat of his forehead and waved himself with a newspaper. In February you could even die of heat in Egypt. When he watched around, he saw a pair of tourists parking a motorbike in front of him. The woman, who went sitting behind, descended from the vehicle and went towards him smiling.

Hi, Jean.

Lara! - he exclaimed, with his French accent - How long without seeing you here!

Lara embraced him friendly.

How do you have found me?

I hoped to find you here. We must talk, we need your aid.

Jean watched over her shoulder and paid attention to Kurtis.

Who is that guy?

Kurtis Trent. He comes with me.

Kurtis did not cause a good impression to Jean, but he slapped the arm of Lara.

Well, I'm very happy of see you again, and so healthy! The last time you were here you left very injured.

Better if you do not remember me about that - Lara snorted.

Well, it will be a pleasure to help us. Please, come to my office.

Lara told the entire subject to Jean, but she omitted the Karel's intentions with her and Kurtis' true role. They had already decided that it was not necessary to told him so much.

Our only reference is this one - she said, showing the Seal to him – Have you have any idea of where is this place?

Jean examined the ring with gathered his frown.

In fact... that's Al-Fayoum cemetery.

But the star indicates a nearly but different zone.

This zone seems to be underground. It's necessary to set an excavation. Fortunately I'm one of Al-Fayoum keepers, so there's no problem with Hawass. How much time have you ?

Time exceeds to us - Kurtis took part - Karel will patiently wait in the shadows until we discover something. We have no hurry.

The archaeologist agreed.

Of course. Give me a pair of days pays in order to get equipment and we will start the excavation. - he smiled watching at Lara – My dear, what kind of messes you enjoy to be in! A year ago, you imprisoned Seth, and now you fight against demons and fallen angels. You're the one.


	12. Chapter 12: A Portfolio Of Sketches

**Chapter 12: A portfolio of sketches**

Gunderson dropped himself over the rickety old bed and looked with indifference the strained sun between the bars of his cell. He had spent three days locked up and under judicial disposition, waiting for being judged by the damages caused to Brasov's patrimony. His situation could not be worse. He did not expect anybody to help him.

He was mistaken since he heard almost imperceptible steps in the passage. He looked through the window's door and a figure dressed in black. Gunderson inclined his head with respect.

- Master.

- Excellent work you made in Bran. - Karel said.

He could not know if he was being serious or it was another one of his ironies.

- Master, I lost all my men.

- I will provide you with better ones.

Gunderson found that offensive. Each one of his mercenaries was valuable for him, since with each one he had spent so many months to train, to gain confidence and respect, to have absolute loyalty to him. They had been the best ones.

- I betrayed that pair, but they have escaped.

- Of course. What did you expect? If I do not let them to progress, I will not be able to use them to discover what I need to find out.

- In that case, Master, should I suppose that I'm no longer useful for you?

- That decision belongs _only_ to me.

Karel extended a hand and slightly touched the lock of the door. At his contact, metal began to twist and melt like butter, dripping until the ground. Gunderson went back, feeling a mixture of horror and admiration. The lock melted completely and the door was open. During a little while, Gunderson thought he was going to kill him. But Karel went away by the corridor. He hurried to follow to him.

- What about the guards? They could hear us - he commented.

- I _seriously_ doubt it. - Karel replied, ponting to a corner with a contemptuous gesture. There were the twisted corpses of the unfortunate poor men who had been called to do guard that night. And at the wall, greased with the spilled blood, there was the Nephilim writing. The Damned Language.

(…)

Five jeeps were advancing by the desert highway. Before of them was circulating one big motorbike. They went towards Al-Fayoum's oasis. They mounted the camping in a nearly zone, a somewhat isolated desert. Jean, Lara, Kurtis and about thirty workers started preparing all. At the evening, the equip seated around a bonfire to have supper, except Kurtis, who went appart to seat on a dune. Jean told Lara:

- Where did you get that Kurtis?

- He was a legionary.

- Was he? And now what is he?

Lara shrank of shoulders.

- I have no idea. I crossed myself in his way by chance and since then we are together in this.

- He gives me a bad feeling.

She laughed.

- He sometimes could seem a bit grumpy, but at heart he's not so bad.

- To trust a stranger is somewhat you usually don't do.

- I know, but I have a debt to him. He helped me to go ahead when he had not why to do it, since after all, it was his mission, not mine.

Jean already knew about the unfortunate Boaz's episode.

- Eckhardt, or maybe Karel, murdered his father - continued Lara- and he wants to take revenge himself. I became involved in this as a result of Von Croy's murder.

- That man was insufferable. - Jean snorted, who had really good reasons to hate Von Croy.

- Maybe. - Lara recognized – He had been my enemy all this years, but he taught me to be what I am. He did not deserve to be murdered like that.

- Nobody deserves such death. - Jean sentenced.

After a while, Lara rose and went towards the outskirts of the camping. Kurtis was smoking and watching at the stars. She sat in silence close to him and sank her fingers on the earth. Egypt's sand was smooth like silk, released an intense salty aroma and had a reddish tonality. After all, that was what meant _Egypt_: the Red Earth.

Karel was at Brasov a day before our departure. – she said, taking a pile of sand and letting it slip slowly between her fingers.

I noticed his presence. - Kurtis replied – He's threatening you.

That was an affirmation, not a question. Lara stared at him and firmly said:

- He doesn't scare to me.

- He doesn't pretend to scare to you. He only wants you to know that he's always here. That's characteristic of those creatures.

Suddenly, Lara blinked and said:

- Do you see that?

- What?

She pointed towards the horizon. There the starred sky began to become blurred and cloudy.

- What the hell is that?

- A _sirocco_. – Lara said, rising with a jump. - We must go, it's necessary to warn all them. Very soon it will fall above us.

(…)

Kurtis advanced with stumbles among the violent sandy wind. He barely found the jeep's door, opened it with a pull, jumped inside and closed it with a banging.

I'm full of sand everywhere. – he coughed, trying to clean his face. He had come out to verify his moto was well-protected with a canvas that used to take coiled in the handlebars. He wouldn't be able to sleep in all night without being sure that so corrosive sand won't damage the vehicle.

_That's t__ypical of a man_, thought Lara, who was lying in front of the steering wheel, with the seat thrown backwards for greater comfort.

- How are the others?

- Your friend is sleeping like a log and the workers are praying and striking their chest with the Quran.

She loosed an outburst of laughter.

They always feel very nervous when there is a phenomenon like this, since they always think is a bad augury: Allah sending a punishment to them.

They spent some time speaking about the peculiarities of Islamic religion. After a while, Lara began to consider if it was a _good_ idea to sleep all night next to Kurtis, inside a jeep and in the middle of a roaring sand storm. Luckily, he had the gentleness to lie down at the back of jeep, separated from her, which improved the uncomfortable situation. He did not take too much time in falling asleep, but for some strange reason, Lara could not close her eyes, she who was used to the deafening roar of the _sirocco_.

On the jeep's compartment Kurtis had left a small portfolio. Sometimes he used to remove it from his luggage, open it and handle some papers, in which ones he seemed to write something. Lara had seen that from the beginning, but she had not given it any importance. At that moment, nevertheless, curiosity overcame her. After making sure he was completely asleep (and he was so quiet that she hardly could hear his breathing), she took his portfolio and opened it. She felt surprised when finding pencil-made drawings and sketches in those papers. There were many figures placed in both sides of the papers, some of them rectified by several times. Lara examined the drawings, one by one.

They were _certainly_ good, made with an energetic and realistic outline. At first papers he had drawn a creature who Lara only knew by his description: the Proto-Nephilim. That horrible monster had been drawn from several perspectives and with high accuracy. He had also drawn Boaz, centering himself in details; and also some artifacts, like the Chirugai, the Glyphus, his Order's symbol… and he had even drawn up some Cabal's members.

When arriving at last sketches, Lara remained paralyzed. Kurtis had drawn a woman. But not just any woman else: he had drawn _her_.

His usual violent outlines had been smoothed to give form to her face. Lara had been drawn from a front position, of profile, looking askance, with sun glasses. And she was also depicted with sarcastic face, with her lips tightened of wrath, even smoothly smiling. Lara was also sleepy in the hollow of a cave or kneeled at the ground, and looking furious at _certain_ door that opened suddenly. There were very few corrections in those sketches, as if he had been sure from the beginning about how he wanted to draw her.

Lara kept watching that sketches during a long time, fascinated. But pretty soon a bad feeling assaulted her: she should _not_ being looking at that. And although during all her life she had done things like that, for once she regretted and she quickly hide those drawings again at the portfolio, being careful on leaving them in the same order in which she found them. She left the portfolio again on the compartment and closed her eyes, but she continued without being able to fall asleep. The wind was still roaring and the sand whipping on crystals' jeep.

(…)

He felt a sunbeam on the face and blinked, annoyed, before turning his head. So there was again the darkness. In fact, that was _too much_ darkness. Kurtis suddenly roused and looked around.

- Lara! - he shouted, touching her arm. She woke up and also looked around, frightened.

- Damn! - she whispered.

Through crystals of jeep, nothing was visible except for piles of sand tightened against the crystal. A single sky fragment glimpsed in the window of the copilot, by where the sunbeam had been strained.

We are buried on the sand! - Lara added with tense voice.

Kurtis unholstered his gun.

- I am going to break the crystal.

- Then the sand will enter!

- I _won't_ remain here to die buried alive. – he roundly replied while giving a strong kick against the window.

The crystal cracked and the pressure made the rest. The window burst and the sand began to enter speedly. Kurtis went ahead and managed to exit, resisting the pressure of the running sand. He climbed to the jeep ceiling and tended an arm to Lara, hold her with all his strength and helped her to climb until him.

The outer panorama was not far better. It was not so much what it had been left from the camp, most part of it had been buried under the sand. Only Kurtis' motorbike and a pair of jeeps had reimained. But about the rest of the expedition... there was no signal.

Lara and Kurtis ran towards a tent and removed some shovels. Helped by the workers who also had escaped to the burial in life, they began to clear the land to find the other jeeps. The shouts of aid and the beeps indicated the exact place to them. Under the sand it appeared a door, and behind it the terrified face of Jean. Lara opened it and helped her friend to exit.

_Mon Dieu__! _- he gasped – I already thought that I won't escape!

They spent half an hour removing sand to help the rest of equip. It was impossible to extract the vehicles, so they had to leave them half-buried.

- What a bad luck we had! - the Frenchman lamented himself, looking around - This damned _sirocco_ will delay our work!

- I would not be _so_ sure about that - Kurtis aimed, indicating towards a point in concrete.

The _sirocco_ had cleared the zone of excavation. Before them, half-buried at the sand, there was a species of carved underground entrance in arc form.

That's the place - Lara said, coming near to examine the structure.

There was a symbol carved in the arc's threshold. That was something like a sharpened anchor: Lux Veritatis' symbol.

(…)

While Jean and his workers were reconstructing the camping, Lara prepared herself to enter the bastion. She opened her trunk of luggage and removed a rolled canvas, raised it with concerted effort and threw it on a wood table. She unrolled it with a strecht. It contained a great arsenal of weapons: guns, machine guns, shotguns and other goodies she had been replacing from Romania.

Kurtis whistled.

- Are you going into battle, lieutenant Croft?

- That's better to have variety – she replied, loading a weapon – Do you want any of them?

He denied with the head.

- I'm a single gun's man.

- Can I see that?

Kurtis threw the Boran to her. She took it and she hefted it, then she grasped it and made it rotate in her hand. Then she took the peephole, mounted it and examined it.

- Wow - she commented, admired - It is good.

- I've done that one by myself.

Lara bent the eyebrows, surprised. She examined the gun again.

- A really good weapon. An expert is telling you that.

He smiled and took the Boran again. Lara finished by adjusting the cartridge holders, she filled the knapsack with what she needed and hung it on her shoulder.

Jean entered at the tent and looked surprised at Kurtis, who was relaxing on a chair: - He does not go with you?

No, I will go first - Lara explained – He'll wait a pair of hours and then he'll follow me. Entering together is too dangerous. If one of both dies, at least the other one is left. But if both die squashed by the same stone we would not make our day.

Jean was already used to Lara's tragical philosophy. As for Kurtis, he didn't make a face. That man was a mystery.

They accompanied her until the tunnel's entrance.

Be careful, dear. - told Jean.

Lara smiled, and winking at Kurtis, she said:

It will be easy.

Then she descended towards the dark.


	13. Chapter 13: The Amazonian's Tomb

**Chapter 13: The Amazonian's Tomb **

Giselle approached to the table where lay the patient. This one was a seventeen years old boy who was squirming desperately, without getting anything except hurting himself with the straps that tied him to the stretcher.

- Keep still - she advised giving a few taps on the syringe - The less you resist, the less you'll hurt.

The boy continued struggling. Giselle already knew that he didn't understand German since he was a recent victim, an Italian kidnapped from his course's trip.

She also knew that he could not hear at all. The last treatment had left completely deaf. But it was necessary to sacrifice some patients for that cause.

She injected the serum and left the room, ignoring the crying teenager.

- Close the door. - she ordered to Friedrich, the guard.- This morning the inmates are unbearable.

And it was true. Through the white painted halls only was heard all sorts of moans, cries and laments.

- Did you know that the Master has returned from Romania? - Friedrich said, locking the door of the room.

- Oh, really?

- He says he will shut down the experiments, since they're no longer necessary. He has found another way to make reborn the High Breed.

Giselle stood.

- What? No way!

She took off her coat and left the medical device on the car's guard.

- He's already here in Munich?

- He's just arrived.

- Well, I'll see him immediately!

Karel sat quietly at the round table, looking with indifference the empty chairs that surrounded it. The Cabal had an identical room in each of its locations: Paris, Prague, Munich, Moscow. They used it for meetings. It was decorated with that luminous sphere in the center of the table and stone gargoyles: a whim from Eckhardt.

The door opened in a burst and a woman entered. She was not more than twenty five years old, and she was an authentic Nordic beauty. White skinned, her hair was short and blond and she has a pair of shining green eyes. Tall and thin, she radiated an air of superiority that used to be irritating for all Cabal's members, but funny for Karel.

- Master. - she said, greeting him with a nod.

- What do you want, Giselle?

- They say you're going to cancel the project.

- Of course.

The young scientist's lower lip trembled, but she controlled herself. Eckhardt did not want cowards at the Cabal, and Karel was even more inflexible in that regard.

- But Master ... – she hesitated - My experiments are going well. In three months I will have succeeded in isolating the particles and we'll have satisfactory results.

- It is not necessary. I found the Amazonian.

Giselle sank into her chair, bowed down, and whispered:

- How can you believe in that nonsense of prophecy?

Upon seeing the flashing cold blue at Karel's narrowed eyes, she knew she had just committed a terrible mistake.

- Be careful in what you say. - he hissed - I don't want to have my decisions questioned.

- Forgive me, Master. - she said, putting down her tabs – But… I'm getting some results: patients are finally surviving to the treatment. And I've created life!

- So did your sister.

Giselle snorted with contempt.

- My sister's Proto-Nephilim was a disgusting and useless experiment. She must have destroyed it when it was in embryonic stage. I do not do these repairs.

- Your sister was a great scientist. One of the Cabal's best ones ever. Eckhardt erred in sentencing her.

She again raised her iridescent eyes.

- Then why did you let him to do _that_ to her?

- Again questioning me, Boaz?

Giselle shook. She hated being called by her surname. It reminded her too much of her sister.

Karel got up, walked over and giving her a sharp tug on the hair, forced her to face him.

The Nephilim had icy and dead eyes. That relentless gaze down her mind, probing every corner of her brain, checking how faithfully that servant was for him.

Giselle felt trapped in the whirlwind of feelings produced by that gaze: attraction, repulsion, attraction, repulsion...

- All projects and experiments will be cancelled. – Karel repeated - Do not take my chances anymore. There is too much at stake. The Amazon will give me the seed for the High Breed.

Then he released her with equal abruptness. She rubbed her scalp, sore.

- As soon as she gets the artifact that is at the stronghold of Al-Fayoum - he continued – I'll bring her here. And I want you to have everything ready, because you'll be the one who'll take charge of her until I solve the puzzle.

And then, he pointed to the door.

The scientist stood up and walked out, furious and humiliated.

She was one of the few members that felt happy with the change of Master. Eckhardt had always inspired in her some kind of disgust, since his morbid cruelty seemed unworthy for her. However, almost from the first moment she had silently adored that blond man booked in Dark Alchemyst's shadow. When Eckhardt died and he revealed his true condition, she could not less than love him. Yes, she loved an immortal being.

Unfortunately for her, he was an immortal being completely unable to love.

- Well, do you want to fight, don't you? Nothing to argue.

Lara jumped forward and slammed a quick kick on the shield of the skeleton. The creature stumbled and was about to take his bones rotting on the ground. Lara kick it again, and again, until its demolition.

- I'm tired of meeting guys like you everywhere. – said Lara while trampling the bony skull arm – At Hall of Seasons you already gave me some work. Don't you ever get tired? Look, here comes another.

"Another" was a second skeleton that had been placed behind her and at that time raised his rusty sword on the head of the explorer. She, giving an elegant turn in the air, decapitated it with a kick.

It was half an hour since she had gone into the stronghold. After nimbly eluding the traps that protected it (for Lux Veritatis' sake she had to say they were very well designed) now she was losing her precious time in some warrior-skulls that would not let her concentrate on her map.

She stopped to catch her breath, looking at the skeletons writhing on the floor and then she turned to study the map, painted on the wall in that empty gray room.

No doubt: it was a picture of the various galleries that made up the underground complex. The place was a damned maze; she could spend hours wandering around the corridors and kicking annoying skeletons without getting anything in particular. She took paper and pencil from her bag and began to copy the map as quickly as she could.

- Leave me alone. – she murmured to the skull which was at that time getting up and, relentless, was heading back again to her with the raised sword.

By the time the creature was next to her, she pulled away. The blade hit the wall and broke.

- See that? - Lara said, without looking up the map she was drawing – You're annoying.

The skeleton looked at the broken blade, confused. The other, moving with irritating slowness, began to slide towards her.

- All Lux Veritatis are so annoying? - she repeated with a sarcastic grin - I will ask Kurtis about that.

She saved the map and ducked a new thrust. She took a few more kicks to the skeleton and made him roll on the ground.

- Well guys, I love to keep chatting with you but I have no time. Bye. - said cheerfully, and walked away across one of the tunnels.

If all went well, the path would lead to a kind of ritual room with a stone altar. At least, it would be something to see.

Kurtis went into the stronghold two hours later, as they had agreed. Lara had expressed concern about how he could overcome the pitfalls. He had been amused by the idea. Of course, she was an expert in avoiding traps, he was far less agile but not a cripple. He could handle that.

Luckily, he didn't need to worry about that. The traps were not activated. The knives were not put into operation, no stone fell on him and it did not emerge any chopper ready to cut him into pieces. He freshly passed between the spikes and sharp leaves, which remained motionless.

Maybe there was a failure in the machinery of the place. It was not mere chance. Some hinges were even squeaky and he saw traces of Lara's boots on the ground... and on the wall. The explorer had made lateral jumps, so she had to dodge them, which meant that had been activated.

Of course, the traps were not being _respectful_ to Kurtis without a reason. The answer was found later in a tiny room that was empty except for a map painted on the wall and two confused skeletons.

One was beheaded and the other looked at his broken sword. When the presence of Kurtis' presence warned them, they turned to him and bowed their heads (the one which was on the floor so did that).

_Welcome, brother._

The voices were _actually_ heard, but sounded only in his head. As he felt stupid if answering to two piles of bones, he simply returned the greeting and walked to the map.

The skeletons waited in silence. There was no reason to attack him, since he was a member of the Order and the bulwark not prevent him from entry, nor do they have to do that.

_Looking for the Amazonian's grave, aren't you, brother?_

Kurtis turned and looked suspicious to the grinning skull of empty sockets.

_We can lead you to it. But we can not go beyond. Our mission was to ensure entry and we have failed. An intruder has challenged the sanctity of the bastion and has defiled our place._

- That was Lara. - Kurtis replied sarcastically with a grin.

The skeletons were still more confused.

_Are you going to tolerate the intruder's presence?_

- She is the new Amazonian.- Kurtis said.

That seemed to convince those sad remains of knights who died centuries ago.

_So there's no reason to forbid her way. Once upon a time an Amazonian came to us. Now she has returned. Follow us, brother._

Kurtis went into the room. The skeletons were left behind since the place was restricted. Other forces were guarding it.

The room was large and circular, like almost all the defenses of the Lux Veritatis. In the center was a sarcophagus. A structure carved in ivory. The cover, beautifully sculpted, represented the recumbent figure of a young woman.

Kurtis recognized her. She was Loanna.

The beautiful statue's eyes were closed and her lips parted in a sad smile. The clothes were luxurious and some delicate edges of the dress slid down the edges of the cap and her hair was scattered on the pillow. It was hard to believe that there could be a more beautiful sculpture than that one. She seemed to go up at any time.

He walked around the grave, watching it carefully. There was an inscription at the girl's foot:

**HIC DORMIT LOANNA VON SKOPF**

_**Vanitas vanitatum… et omnia est vanitas**_

_Here lies Loanna Von Skopf. Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity._

Throughout the sarcophagus carved motifs were repeated with the scythe and hourglass.

Loanna was there, making her eternal sleep. Her beauty was intact and immortalized in the cold ivory. To the inscription, however, that vanity of beauty had been a few hours of existence. It was almost as ironic and cruel as the _Omnia vulnerant_ tapestry of Bran.

Suddenly, he felt again that sensation. The choking, the shortness of breath. Just the same he had felt in the castle of Brasov. The presence of someone who wanted to speak to him through the echoes of the past.

He sat next to the grave.

- Tell me. – he said, looking at Loanna's ivory face. – I'm listening.

_He was in a darkened room, dimly lit by several torches. In the center was a round table on which were seated twenty men, some of them wearing a kind of monk's habit, another dressed in armor._

_The Lux Veritatis._

_There was a woman in the room, but she had set aside in a small booster seat. She was Loanna, and her pregnancy was well advanced. She stared into the void, pale and limping clung to the armrests._

_One of the knights punched the table._

_- This can only bring us trouble! – he shouted - Why do we have to run such a risk?_

_One of those who were dressed as monks, whom all seemed to respect (he was the elder) said, frowning his:_

_- Say it clearly, Limoux: you want us to kill this woman._

_Loanna didn't react. She kept staring at nothing with a look of total indifference._

_- She brings a Nephilim in her womb! - shouted Limoux - We can not give even the chance to be born to that thing!_

_- And to avoid that you're suggesting shedding the blood of this innocent young woman. - replied the old monk. – Have you forgotten by chance that our mission is precisely to protect the victims of the Nephilim?_

_- Our mission is to destroy the Nephilim! - Limoux had almost lost his voice - And there's a Nephilim! – he concluded, pointing to Loanna's womb._

_That was enough for her. She got up as if driven by a spring, descended from the little throne and walked proudly to the door._

_One of the knights rose to cut her way off._

_- You can't go anywhere._

_- Then give me a sword and I'll kill myself. - she said, her voice cold and sharp. - Whereas I am a nuisance, it's better to disappear from your life soon._

_The old man sighed._

_- We don't want you to die, Loanna._

_- But do not want me to live, do you, Grand Master? - she replied. Her cheeks were burning - I escaped by a miracle of my confinement in the castle of Bran. I've been running by land and sea. I have suffered countless dangers and setbacks. I have done everything possible and impossible to get here, to your stronghold... I, who am alone and pregnant, I who am a woman in a man's world and Christian in the land of infidels. I have come alive for very little! My only hope was to put myself under your protection... But I see what protection you are going to give me._

_She turned her head violently and took a step forward, but again the knight prevented her from going ahead._

_- While you're here, nobody will hurt you. - the Grand Master insisted – This I swear by my honor as a Lux Veritatis. We'll wait until the birth of the baby and then..._

_His voice broke._

_- I'll kill him myself.- Loanna said flatly._

_The council members looked at each other, stunned._

_- Can we trust her? - continued Limoux, who insisted on behaving as if she were not present._

_- Of course. - she said, looking at him with contempt - No one is so eager to end this as I am._

_And then she left the room without anyone to prevent it this time._


	14. Chapter 14: Loanna's Sacrifice

**Chapter 14: Loanna's Sacrifice**

_The images ranged before him and the scene changed. This time it was a small dark room. The Grand Master and Loanna were talking. She lit up the darkness with a torch._

_- The fitting that we sent to Cappadocia has triumphed. - said the old man, this time going with armor .- The Nephilim were destroyed._

_- But how is that possible?_

_- They were mired in a kind of lethargy. It was easy to annihilate them._

_- Then the only one left is Drakul.- she said, crossing herself to protect from the malignancy that evoked the single pronunciation of that name._

_The Grand Master frowned._

_- I wish it were that simple, child. One of them ran away. We found his niche wide. Anyway, this is not the issue that now worries me._

_He went to a chest in the corner and pulled out a velvet pouch containing a spherical object. It was a beautiful blue crystal sphere, covered with an engraving of strange symbols._

_- We call it the Periapt. - he said – Actually we do not really know from where it's from. Our Order has always had it. But we have found that this crystal is able to kill a Nephilim if it's wielded by a member of our Order. But wielded by any other person, it has no effect on these creatures._

_Loanna took the Periapt with trembling hands._

_- Fear not, daughter, it can not be broken._

_And he took a sharp swipe at the orb, which slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. Loanna shouted at its shatter, but pieces almost instantly closed upon themselves and the orb was again intact._

_- Take it, child._

_She shook her head, terrified._

_- This is demonic magic!_

_- No, my child. It is the power of angels. This crystal already existed when the Order was born, and will continue existing when the last of our brothers die. The Periapt is made of a heavenly material that can kill an immortal being._

_Seeing that Loanna was reluctant to touch the Periapt, the Grand Master picked it up and put it back into the velvet bag._

_- From this Periapt we took three crystal pieces and carved three knives, which we have called the Periapt Shards. With them, our warriors have been able to kill the fallen angels. Now our struggle is directed to other roads. We must destroy Drakul, finding the Nephilim who escaped and… and kill your son._

_- That thing is not my son. - Loanna coldly said – That's a creation of his father. I had nothing to do with that._

_He nodded._

_- The Periapt is our most prized possession. It must never fall into enemy hands. Recently we learned that a cult has emerged that supports the Nephilim. It is called the Cabal._

_Loanna frowned._

_- Jews?_

_- No, daughter. Some are priests. Others are doctors. They're guided by a man named Pieter Van Eckhardt, who calls himself The Dark Alchemist._

_She sighed._

_- Evil flourishes and opens its way._

_Suddenly, a knight came running. He was sweating profusely._

_- Grand Master! – he gasped – Vlad Drakul is here in Egypt! He has used his alliances with the Turks to get to the Amazonian!_

_The news made Loanna to feel lazy legs and stumble. The warrior held her before she fell to the ground._

_- We'll see that. - said the Grand Master .- We'll face them. Let the Nephilim to know who are the Lux Veritatis._

_He drew his sword and kissed the hilt._

_- For this they will know! Bring together all our brothers. It's time to fight._

_(…)_

_Again, he was transported to a time in a different place. It was this time a rectangular chamber, empty except for a stone altar._

_Loanna was running. She wore torn clothes which turned into a pile of rags, her hair loose. She closed the door and bolted. She was visibly terrified._

_- Dead ... – she said panting – They're all dead ... My fault!_

_She turned to the altar, bringing two objects: the Periapt and a bloodstained sword. She stumbled towards the altar, as her big belly just allowed forward, tripped over the shreds of her skirt and fell to her knees. She was pressing convulsively the Periapt against her chest._

_- Don't let them to find the Periapt...- she murmured – Don't let them to find the Periapt!_

_She grabbed the sword and fitted the blade at the edge of a tile floor and made it jump. She dug into the ground and threw the Periapt into the hole. Then she covered it and adjusted the tile in its place._

_At that moment the door vibrated with a thunderous roar. A strong voice roared:_

_- Open, Loanna! Your game is over!_

_It was the voice of Vlad Tepes._

_Loanna rose trembling and shaky holding the sword. Despite her condition, she was able to fight, but what could do a silly sword against a Nephilim?_

_Then she took a deep breath... and suddenly she calmed. She stopped shaking and walked purposefully towards the altar stone. She stood with her back to it, and still looking towards the door, she stabbed herself in the belly. She plunged the blade to the handle and the tip exited through her back. A trail of blood sprang forward and splashed the floor while soaking her clothes. She gasped._

_Kurtis knew the shooting and burning pain she was suffering. He had felt that in his own flesh, and the memory made him shiver._

_From that moment, the events precipitated. Loanna fell on the steps to the altar. The door exploded into pieces and two men entered the room when the woman, with her last strength, pulled the sword from her body and let it fall aside._

_One man was Vlad Tepes, who watched with horror the scene. The other was Karel himself, in armor, with amazingly long hair. He ran to the failing Loanna and lifted her chin._

_- What have you done stupid mortal?_

_Loanna looked at him with glassy eyes and stammered:_

_- You've lost... you won't have neither your damned offspring ... nor me._

_Those were her last words. After a couple of crackles, she vomited a stream of blood and remained motionless, staring into space._

_- They're dead. - announced Karel .- Both her and the baby._

_And kicked the body, making it rolling down the steps._

_The last thing Kurtis heard before losing contact was the heartbreaking cry of Vlad the Impaler, full of anger and frustration._

(…)

Lara entered the room and the first thing he saw was Kurtis sitting at the feet of a sarcophagus made of ivory.

- Well, well. - she said - Here I am doing all the work and Mr. Trent having a rest...

But she stopped to take a closer look. Kurtis was panting, as if gasping for air, had a hand on the heart and the other clung to the contours of the sculpture. He seemed to have run hundreds of miles and can not give even a step further.

- Are you okay? – she said kneeling beside him.

He looked at her for a moment and did not seem to recognize her. His eyes were red and his forehead beaded with sweat. Then he rubbed his face and whispered:

- Nothing.

- Really? - she said, holding out a hand. He took it and rose with her help. He then felt lazy legs that made him stumble, but he managed to stay standing, half resting on the sarcophagus, half resting on Lara.

- Too much time away ... – he kept muttering - I should be back before...

Lara looked at him, confused. She had an idea what he meant, but it definitely still seemed strange.

- Have you found anything? - asked the two together.

- Well...- Lara said, smiling - nothing interesting apart from a devilish traps and a couple of bored skeletons.

She looked into the sarcophagus.

- Well, well. – she went to examine the face of the recumbent .- It is magnificent. The best museums in the world would pay astronomical amounts for this wonder. Too bad that does not fit in my backpack. - concluded with a laugh.

Kurtis was now feeling better. She walked around the grave.

- Any other remarkable stay?

- Bah, just an empty room with a stone altar. - she said with a shrug.

- Take me there immediately.

(…)

Yes, that place was, no doubt. The same steps, the same altar. Old blood stains...

Kurtis examined the tile floor and crouched down to one. He removed it and began to dig in the dirt.

Lara watched him in silence. He had already told her everything he had seen... and sincerely, it was _not_ a very encouraging story. But at least they were on the track. At least they knew what they came to search.

- Here is. - Kurtis said, pulling out of the hole an old threadbare velvet bag.

He took a beautiful engraved crystal ball and gave it to Lara, before wiping hands on his pants.

- The Periapt.- she said - The orb where the three Shards were removed from...

And without warning, she slammed it into the wall. Kurtis winced.

The pieces just fell to the ground, approached each other and joined, again leaving intact the Periapt.

- Incredible - Lara muttered her eyes wide open – That's true ... it can not be broken.

- Actually, what it can't do is to _remain_ broken. - he said, picking it up. Then, amused at the admired Lara's expression, he added - I guess the best museums in the world could not afford this wonder, do you think so, miss Croft?

Lara slowly shook her head.

- Of course.

(…)

They had returned to Loanna's tomb.

- Then she committed suicide to avoid being taken back, and with her died the unborn. - Lara said – It sounds almost romantic...

- Karel was the Nephilim who escaped the massacre of Cappadocia. Drakul joined to him, but for some reason Karel after decided to impersonate a member of the Cabal so he can manipulate Eckhardt at his will, without him knowing it. - Kurtis said - But then... why The Sleeper survived?

Lara looked at the symbols of the Periapt.

- I do not know ... perhaps those of your Order would missed it.

- No way. Impossible. A Lux Veritatis never makes mistakes like that.

- Oooh .- she said, wincing – Concerning the Periapt ... if it is not broken, then the three Shards would remain intact. Too bad I had to leave them stuck in Eckhardt's corpse.

- Karel must have them. - he said - In any case, now is the Periapt what matters.

Lara carefully examined it.

- I think I have an idea of what can be this thing... but I must study it further.

Then a feared and hated voice rang in the room.

- Do not take such a nuisance, beautiful. - said Karel. - I'll do.

(…)

Lara and Kurtis turned sharply. She pressed the Periapt against her chest in an instinctive act.

There, between two arches, leaning against a pillar, was Joachim Karel. His expression looked calm and he was showing a serene smile.

- Give me the Periapt.- said.

Lara frowned.

- It's not yours. It doesn't belong to you.

Karel widened his smile.

- Just curious that a thief like you is saying that. A person who has spent all her life stealing and looting everywhere.

He separated from the column and began to walk towards them.

- In fact it's you whom does not belong the Periapt... or anything that you have appropriate during all these years. Do you think you can go anywhere and say _this is mine_? Do you think you can take what you please just because you have found it? - he laughed - No, Lara Croft. Maybe you've done that so far... but this time it's over. This time I will be the one to take you... _my Amazonian_.

The last words sounded like a whip. Lara shuddered involuntarily and stepped back, but she not stopped looking at him defiantly.

Kurtis, however, did not move an inch. He had been quietly studying his opponent. He turned his face towards Lara and exchanged a glance with her.

She understood immediately. She pursed her lips and jumped back, turned over the tomb and landed on the other side in a fraction of a second. The same soon she turned around and went towards the door.

But she didn't go too far. Suddenly, the output faded and she found herself facing a bare, impenetrable wall. Frustrated, she turned and saw the same thing had happened to the other outputs. The room was sealed.

- A good trick. - said Karel .- One of the first a Nephilim child learns to do.

Then he repeated, relentless:

- Give me the Periapt.

Lara responded defiantly:

- You'll have to kill me.

- Of course. - corroborated Karel .- But not until you've served to my purpose.

He stepped towards her, surrounding the grave, but then Kurtis cut his way off without uttering a word. The expression on his face was completely impenetrable.

- I'll take care of you ... as I took care of your father. - Karel said, squinting – Get away.

- I think not. - Kurtis said with a grin. He put his hand to his belt and stroke the Chirugai.

Karel tightened his jaws, angry. The curse between him and his opponent prevented him from killing, because he would be sentencing himself... But who said it was necessary to kill him?

- Well. You asked for it.

He changed slowly, taking the authentic appearance of a Nephilim. Grayish skin, furrowed with dark streaks, white hair, black eyes with that bright white pupil in the center. His body was enveloped by a faint green glow and slightly raised above the ground.

Then he launched his attack.

(…)

Kurtis jumped aside to dodge the lightning. The energy hit the sarcophagus and made it vibrate.

He threw away the Chirugai, but Karel avoided it with a quick turn in the air.

Lara began to grope the wall. She had kept the Periapt in her backpack and was now looking for the door. According to Karel's she had deduced that the disappearance of the output was a mere optical illusion, and that in fact the door was still there... just only she could not see it.

A new energy beam fell nearby. Kurtis had avoided very quickly and after the hunt Chirugai flight, extended a hand. His invisible force departed from him and projected Karel against a pillar, making him to slip to the ground.

- Damn it... - Lara murmured, fingering the wall – Where's the bloody door?

Karel rose again and fought back. He reached Kurtis this time and knocked him down on the floor.

- _Eureka_! - Lara shouted, and grabbed an invisible shackle. She tugged it and began to open the wall.

Suddenly, a shock shook her from head to feet and slammed her into the ground. The blow left her breathless. Karel's voice hissed in her ear:

- Game over, sweetie.

Lara tried to get up, but a new charge paralyzed her. Karel tugged and pulled her from the braid to force her to look at him. Lara saw her face reflected in the unfathomable orbits of that eternal and immortal being.

Suddenly, she heard a whistle. Karel howled in pain and released Lara, stumbling backward. Lara looked at him horrified, and saw the Chirugai pierced in his left side, deeply nailed in his flesh.

Karel snatched it with a jerk and threw it down. A gush of white fluid – Nephilim blood - poured from the thick wound.

He looked up and saw Kurtis kneeling in front of him, looking at him with a total expression of hatred. Karel, blinded by anger and pain, sent a last attack that hit him against the sarcophagus.

The Nephilim rose panting. He staggered a few steps and grabbed his bleeding side.

- You're mad, Lux Veritatis! – he gurgled - Mad!

And he vanished in the air.

Lara ran towards Kurtis, who lay half sprawled next to Loanna's grave. She tried to incorporate him, but he refused her help and sat alone, leaning his back against the sarcophagus.

The impact with the ivory had opened a deep gash on his head and half of his face was drenched in bright red blood.

- Kurtis... - Lara murmured extending a hand to draw away strands of his bloodstained hair.

He pulled her hand gently and rested his head on the ivory, which was dyed red with his blood.

- Let me enjoy this moment of glory. – he sighed, closing his eyes.

Lara looked at him, speechless. Undoubtedly, the blow had affected his brain.

She could not understand that Kurtis had just fulfilled the dream of every Lux Veritatis: to see fear in the eyes of a Nephilim.


	15. Chapter 15: Putai

**Chapter 15: Putai**

It was evening when they left the stronghold. The return was easy, with the caring guidance of the skeletons (Lara felt offended by having to follow a bunch of bones which treated Kurtis with great respect, and flew into a rage when she saw that the traps were not activating. She started to shout something about including Kurtis in her inventory from that time to avoid headaches in the traps and also screamed something about her work being undervalued and thus it had no intrigue or emotion).

The sunlight hurt them in the eyes when they exit. Jean, who was there supervising the excavators' work, ran towards them:

- How did it go? _Sacre bleu!_ - he said, looking at Kurtis - What happened, _monsieur_ Trent?

Kurtis had half of his face black with clotted blood.

- Occupational risk. - said Lara- Have you installed an infirmary?

- Yes, by here.

The infirmary was one of the many tents enabled. Upon entering the fortress, they had left behind a wasteland devastated by the _sirocco_, and now there was a real camp.

Kurtis refused the help of the nurse and began to heal himself. He wiped the crust of blood and examined the wound. It was pretty ugly, swollen and bruised above his left temple.

- Another string of stitches – he determined annoyed, looking it in the mirror.

- Let me help you. - Lara said, approaching.

He turned and drove away her with a hand gesture.

- Hold it right there, miss Croft. As a fellow you're very competent, but as a nurse you're lethal. I've had enough with Brasov's session.

He turned back towards the mirror, wet a cotton swab in alcohol and applied it to the wound. Before the horrified eyes of Jean, he began to sew the gap himself without even blinking.

- Wow, that's a tough guy. - he said quietly to Lara.

She frowned and said disdainfully:

- Yes, _really_ tough.

And she turned and left the tent.

(…)

Lara stroked the Periapt. She was displaying its symbols on a sheet. They were neither writing nor hieroglyphics. They were just a messy map of symbols that had nothing to do one with each other. Mystical symbols, religious, natural...

An Egyptian Ankh. An Isis' Knot. The Eye of Horus. The Christian cross. The Muslim crescent. The Chinese Ying and Yang. The Lux Veritatis's anchor. The symbols of the pagan gods: Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury... The Jewish star. The Hindi Eye. The Illuminati's triangle. The swastika of the Celts. The pentacle of Lucifer.

The symbols were endless and contrasted. It was such a fascinating mixture that Lara felt puzzled. For the first time in her life she had in her hands an artifact containing the symbols of all religions, cults, sects and myths that would ever have existed on Earth.

Lara closed his eyes, overwhelmed. Kurtis was right: there was no fortune in the world that could buy that great artifact.

A perfect, universal orb. An indestructible artifact. A crystal which could kill angels ...

- Where did you come from? – she whispered, stroking its rough surface.

It was the dream of every archaeologist and tomb raider. It was _her_ dream. The most beautiful device it had ever existed.

A crunch took her out of her meditations. Kurtis had just lifted the canvas tent.

- May I enter?

Lara nodded and left the pencil on the scribbled sheets. Apparently, Kurtis had been able to heal well his wound. He wore a cotton patch on the forehead.

- I know why you're angry.

- Congratulations. - she said, glaring at him - By the way, I also want to know _why on earth_ had you to risk yourself like that. You almost killed Karel with your flying glaive.

Kurtis smiled calmly.

- I could _not_ allow that monster, under _any_ circumstances, to take something so beautiful and precious to me.

- I wouldn't have let him to steal the Periapt! - Lara jumped.

Kurtis looked at her with his piercing blue eyes.

- I'm _not_ talking about the Periapt.

Lara felt a wave of heat rising throughout her body.

- You're mad. - she said, looking away.

- That's what Karel said.

- And he's right! - she cried, turning to look at him - You would have died with him!

- So what?

She blinked, confused.

- So what, you say? You mean that you don't care?

She jumped up. Her anger was increasing.

- For if I had known you don't care the least about your own life, Mr. Trent, I would not have taken so much trouble to solve this mess! So next time you see Karel, you can cut him into pieces if you want and die with him! Less hassle for me!

She walked towards the exit, but Kurtis grabbed her arm.

She pursed her lips and hissed:

- Let me go.

- Not until you've listened to me.

- Do not make me hit you.

- I won't give you the chance.

- Haha! - she said, raising her chin - That you achieved to catch me off guard at the Louvre does not mean you can ...

- I know what I can and what I can not do .- Kurtis said - Will you stop acting like a brat?

Lara's eyes threw sparks. She reflected a moment and then pulled away from the hand of Kurtis and crossed her arms over her chest.

- Ok. I'm listening.

Kurtis sighed.

- Lara, I _really_ appreciate the help you're providing to me. But you can't understand this. All my life I've been facing this, but you just a month ago. So far you've proven to be really skilled and competent, in fact, I can't but admire you. Experience has shown me that I was not wrong when I decided to trust you and leave you leeway to crack Eckhardt in the Strahov .

He walked to the desk and saw the work she had been doing.

- But this is not another of your adventures, Lara. This time the issue is more serious and terrible than you can imagine. I appreciate your interest and your help, I thank you for responding to my unconscious call and I thank each time having you by my side because I know that if you do not discover the True Option, nobody will, and neither do I. – he stared at her – That's why I'll be supporting you and we will continue looking for that key, I assure you.

- But then, why...?

He raised a hand to silence her.

- It may seem that when I saw Karel I lost my mind, I was blinded by hatred or something, and I thought only of revenge. Not at all. I was perfectly aware about what could happen to me if I killed him. But I just thought that I should _not_ waste the opportunity. It is _so_ difficult to be underestimated by a demon and _so_ difficult to have enough advantage to hurt him. If I had not been so exhausted, I would have halved him – he shrugged - But I failed. Now he's angry and won't underestimate me again. Too bad.

- But ... your life...

- My life is _not _important. What really mattered at that moment was to destroy, or at least prevent him from taking the Periapt... and you.

Lara looked at him in silence. That philosophy was totally incomprehensible to her. One had to cling to life while he had a chance. And Kurtis had a chance. Having a True Option... Why to die?

- Well - she said - No way to understand you, but at least I hope that next time you think enough for not to engage yourself in a duel to death, at least until we find the damn key.

- I'll try. - he smiled.

- To be sincere you've been superb. - she said, looking sideways. Kurtis laughed.

- Come on! Did you see how pissed he was?

(…)

The next day was difficult. Jean and his workers wanted to enter the stronghold. Kurtis refused. The place was sacred and he was not going to let them to enter for looting, plundering and profaning Loanna's grave. There was a riot and the workers stormed the bastion, but came running with their tails between their legs when the first trap activated.

Lara screamed until she was hoarse, she distributed a few kicks and locked herself in her tent to study the Periapt.

- Dear Lara, we can not left without seeing the grave... – Jean complained – We're archaeologists! Please understand me, my dear, if all persons were like your friend, Tutankhamen would remain forgotten and nobody had uncovered the Sphinx.

- I know, but he's right. Anyway, if you can avoid the traps and a pair of skinny guards...

Jean shuddered.

- And could you not convince him to? You said that both guards and traps obey to him...

- No time for that. – she cut it clear - Give me a hand with this, Jean. I'm tired of beating around the bush.

The Periapt had her more and more fascinated. She had copied, grouped and classified all symbols, had written everything I knew of them... and all she had achieved was even more convoluted gibberish.

- Well, dear, I am Egyptologist and not an expert of symbology - he said, examining the stacks of papers – so I do not see any connection here. There's a lack of information... and I'm afraid this orb is so overstretched.

- But the Golden Seal has not changed. It continues to showing us this site.

- Maybe you missed something, or you went to the wrong place.

- It can't be. - she said, throwing a pencil and clenching her fists - This place is perfect! Where is the fail?

Jean began to review the endless list of symbols.

- The True Option... – he muttered.

At that moment he was interrupted by a scream. Lara and Jean ran out of the tent and found that one of the children came running and workers who pointed back.

There, marked on the horizon, there were several rows of riders involved in white robes, waiting in silence. In front of them, there seemed to be the leader, he was wrapped in a large black cloak. All were armed.

- _Mon Dieu._ - Jean gasped, terrified.

Kurtis had appeared, and made a gesture to get the gun.

- No. - said Lara, and prevented him – They don't come to attack us. They're _medjau_.

- Med-what? - Kurtis said.

- _Medjau_. North bedouins. I'll talk to the chief.

Lara walked to the rows of riders. People in the camp had gathered around Jean and Kurtis and looked frightened at the nomads.

The leader looked at the woman as she approached. Kurtis, however, quietly drew his gun and kept it hidden under his arm. A single act of hostility towards Lara... and bye bye, leader!

- _Salam aleikum_. - greeted Lara. – Why did you have come so far from your land?

- Times are strange. - said the black figure, with a soft and warm voice. - I'm glad to see you again, Lara Croft.

She blinked, surprised, recognizing the voice.

- Putai? It's you?

The leader discovered her face. She was a woman.

(…)

That evening, both bedouins and workers dined together. Certain members of the expedition felt pretty suspicious by those armed-to-the-teeth Arabs, but they were not hostile at all.

- It's been a long time. - Putai said, seated next to Lara, around a campfire - I thought I will not see you again, Tomb Raider.

The Bedouin woman was a shaman, and unlike their peers, not Arab but Ethiopian. Her skin was dark as ebony, and had a very long black hair braided in a complex hairstyle decorated with colored beads. He wore a robe as dark as her skin and she was carrying a wooden staff. The most fascinating were her eyes, green as emerald, surrounded by henna tattoos. No individual of her race had those eyes.

- What happened, Putai? - Lara said - You were the shaman of your tribe, not its leader.

- My father died a few months ago. - she explained. She was speaking in French with a strong Arabic accent. - My brother was killed two weeks ago by the fundamentalists. I have assumed his leadership.

Lara did not know what surprised her the most, the Bedouins having accepted the command of a woman or Putai, so peaceful and spiritual, having consented into a charge involving militarism and power.

After dinner, people retreated to their tents. Finally there was only one fire alone in the camp. Around it there gathered Putai, Jean and Lara. Kurtis, according to his custom, sat somewhat apart, smoking in silence without losing detail of the conversation.

- How did you meet? - Jean asked the Bedouin.

- I found her wounded in the Great Tomb of the Ancient King.

- She refers to the Kheops' Pyramid.- Lara said, seeing the Egyptologist's face of strangeness.

- Then it was her who rescued you! - said the French- How was it?

- If Lara does not mind. - Putai said politely.

She shrugged. She had spent two years silent because of the media, but now she was among friends.

So Putai began her story.

(…)

_It was a January afternoon. Putai and his father had ridden to the Great Tomb of the Ancient King (which the Westerns called "pyramid"). There, hidden behind a dune, a team of archaeologists were working hard. An elderly man, dressed in white, was leading them and exhibited a marked limp._

_- Look at those thieves plundering the holy places again. - grunted Putai._

_- No, daughter. This time they're trying to rescue a missing explorer.- the old leader said, pointing towards the lame man - That's Werner Von Croy. He's trying to rescue an old disciple, Lara Croft._

_Putai spat on the ground to ward off evil demons. His father did the same._

_- The woman that freed Seth!_

_- Yes, my daughter. For that people there is nothing sacred._

_- Then let her to remain buried! So hard she must pay the price for her profanation!_

_- That's what they are doing. Look at that.- her father said._

_Indeed, the camp was being lifted. Operators were collecting tents and materials and carrying them back into the jeeps._

_Von Croy was standing in front of the pyramid. He pressed a broken bag in his hands. The expression on his face showed deep sorrow and dejection._

_- Come, child. They have given up her for dead._

_- Yes, father. Let that Westerners take care of their affairs._

_(…)_

_The young shaman would never know what prompted her to return to the pyramid. Maybe they were the spirits of earth, who spoke to her in dreams. Perhaps it was the compassion that inspired the look of the old lame. Perhaps it was his sorry face, like that one of a father who had lost his daughter. Perhaps it was the warmth and longing that gripped the bag. Perhaps because he was breaking into mourn when they took him away._

_Anyway, the next night Putai entered the galleries of the Great Pyramid. Her Bedouin eyes were able to guide her in the dark, a faithful ally of her people for generations._

_She reached the end of the tunnel's excavation set by Von Croy. Then she started to remove stones. Her robe was torn; her arms were injured, but she did not stop for a while. When she cleared the tunnel she was dirty with dust and soaked with sweat. But she didn't stop trying. She struggled to spend the opening and dragged on despite she was beginning to be invaded by a kind of claustrophobia, since she was from a people who had always lived outdoors and whose only closure was that one of the corpses when buried in the sand._

_When she believed she would not be able to go on, she saw her._

_She was a dark shape lying in the dark, half-buried. The explorer was lying limp like a broken doll. Her arms and legs were bent at impossible angles. She was dirty with dust and soaked with blood._

_Putai crawled to her and pulled her hair uncovering her face. She had a swollen eye, her lips and face full of cuts and scrapes. The skin had a grayish hue._

_- What should I do? - Putai said to the empty darkness – She's dead. Take her to her fellows? Leave her here?_

_It was easier to leave her there, but she nevertheless grabbed her leg and started pulling from her. Almost at the same time, the wounded woman screamed and convulsed in pain._

_- Allahu akbar! - gasped Putai - She's alive!_

_The European woman opened her eyes and tried to speak but her mouth was dry and full of sand. Putai extracted a tiny bottle of water from her shattered robe and brought it to the woman's chapped lips. She made an inhuman effort to swallow the water, then she dropped her head again, exhausted._

_- Lara Croft? - Putai ventured._

_She nodded slowly._

_- I should let you die. - Putai said then, speaking more to herself than to Lara - You freed Seth. You brought evil to Egypt._

_- No... - said Lara then, speaking at a gurgle - I repaired my mistake ... he's locked up again ..._

_It came a brutal coughing and she struggled, tormented. She had her ribs broken and every movement was torture._

_Putai looked at her in silence. Her wounds were serious but not fatal: nothing that her wisdom could not heal. If she took her from that place, she'll live. If she left her there, she'll die._

_- Well. Allah has placed her at my hands._

_It was useless to try to move her, so she began to recede. The injured woman threw a desperate glance to her. The Bedouin said:_

_- Be quiet. I will not abandon you. I will return with help. I'll get you out of here. Hold on._

_And she returned. They collected and removed her from there. Putai took her into his tent and was responsible for her cure and care. Months passed before she could walk again. By the fifth month her bones were already restored, but she had lost her agility. She went in fits and walked rather lame than Von Croy, and unable to walk long distances. She took long to be as she used to be._

_No doctor had ever believed that Western healing wisdom of a nomadic and primitive tribe could heal so bad injuries, but the fact is that Lara recovered. She and Putai became friends. They rode together through the desert and were together from that time. The Bedouin taught her to live with her people, and taught her wisdom and tradition. As for Lara, she told her experiences throughout the world and taught her to speak French (since it was the second official language of Egypt)._

_- I have to return to England - she said one day.- My people still believe I'm dead._

_- That lame old man ... Von Croy ... - Putai hesitated._

_- Once he was my teacher and mentor ... Now is my worst enemy._

_- But he tried to find you._

_- And he abandoned me. - Lara made a sneer – He's a traitor. He came up close to me. I could hear his voice and I hadn't the strength to call him. He stole my backpack and left._

_Furious, she spat to one side. She had been so long among the nomads that she was now used to mimic this particular gesture to show their distaste to mention something or someone who brought them bad memories._

_Then Putai wanted to tell her that he had not abandoned her. That he was forced to leave her. That his pain had been real._

_But she knew the power of hatred, and her friend was full of hate._

_Lara would never forgive._

(…)

- I still remember the day you got back from among the death.- said Jean when Putai finished talking – We were celebrating a funeral for your memory.

- Who had the brilliant idea of building _that_ hideous statue of mine? - Lara said.

Jean shrugged.

- I guess it was father Dunstan.

They laughed remembering that time. Lara went running into the chapel and interrupted the service. Winston almost had a heart attack and Lara's parents were slow to recover from the shock. As for father Dunstan, he always said from that time that Lara's return was due to his prayers, though at the moment he saw her he sprinkled her with holy water for if she was a ghost. At last, she had been disappeared during many months.

- Do you have reconciled at the end with your mentor? - Putai said then.

Lara shook her head.

- He was murdered. That's why I'm here, stuck in the biggest mess of my life. The last straw is that I'm charged on his murder and now I have all European police force behind me.

- But he didn't explain to you why he left you? - Jean said.

- He had no time. Everything happened too fast. Even at first I was not sure if it was me who killed him. In any case, it does not matter now.

Suddenly, Putai said:

- What do you have to tell us, Demon Hunter?

Kurtis looked up, surprised. He had already realized that it was a Bedouin costume to give nicknames to everything, but the coincidence was too blatant.

- How do you know _that_?

- My people are still telling tales about the days when people like you lived in the stronghold. I can recognize a warrior when I see one. And you've been through many battles.

Lara and Jean were staring fixedly at him. So much attention unnerved him, since he was accustomed to being ignored.

- I do _not_ talk about personal issues. – he replied sharply. He got up and walked away.

- A nice guy. - Jean said sarcastically, since he had been unable to enter into Loanna's tomb he can't stand Kurtis.

Lara smiled mischievously.

- He likes to be a mysterious man.

But she didn't admit that he _succeeded_ in that. Kurtis would always be a mystery to her. She wondered what kind of life he would have had and why he insisted on enclosing himself behind a wall of bricks. It was not shyness. Kurtis was _anything_ but shy. It might be another way to remain unnoticed.


	16. Chapter 16: Bloodstained Sand

**Chapter 16: Bloodstained Sand**

Screams and shootings woke her up. She jumped out of bed and pulled the ubiquitous gun under the bundle of clothes which was her pillow. Then she decided she could not go out in underwear and put some clothes on her on the run, also put the Periapt in her backpack and left the tent.

- What the _fuck_…? – she screamed.

And then she saw it. Several jeeps stopped there. Some men invaded the camp, armed with submachine guns. And the commander of all them...

- Gunderson!

Lara cursed a thousand times not to have killed him when she had the chance.

At camp, chaos erupted. The excavators, terrified, fled to the only place that seemed safe: the stronghold. The Bedouins, who carried war into their veins, took up arms with savage cries and rushed to meet the invaders. The result was that one came upon another and formed a tap of terrified and angry people that yelled and made a fuss.

- Oh, come on. - Lara muttered, annoyed.

Gunderson's men ran between the tents and surrounded up people with their guns. The Bedouins were facing them, but the panic was rising.

Lara was hidden behind a canvas. She waited and when one of the mercenaries passed next to her, she jumped on him and knocked him down. She and her opponent rolled down the sand. After a brief struggle, Lara knocked him off with an accurate kick to the temple.

She got stumbled and looked around. The mercenaries had set fire to tents and there were several corpses on the sand. Suddenly, someone pushed her towards the floor and threw her down. She felt breathless. Shrapnel rained down around them.

- Have you gone mad? - Kurtis's voice rang in her ear - Do you want to become the most beautiful Sahara's strainer?

The Bedouin's war cries echoed everywhere. Lara and Kurtis dragged through the sand and took cover behind a dune. He took the Boran X and adjusted the peephole above the barrel.

A mercenary went towards them, but he did not have time to shoot. Kurtis brought him down with one shoot. And another one. And another.

Lara rose.

- Where are you going?

- Cover my rear guard, Kurtis! I have to find Putai!

She sprang forward and ran between the tents. Kurtis swore.

The mercenaries, seeing her, rushed towards her. They had orders to capture her. But they didn't touch even her hair. Kurtis, fast and lethal, settled one by one from his parapet.

So far Lara found Putai, kneeling behind a jeep, with pursed lips and gripping her rode, watching the battle.

- Lara! - she cried - Who are these men? What do they want?

- It's me what they want. - Lara gasped - Putai, please, you must go. Both you and your people. Immediately.

The shaman Bedouin frowned.

- My people have never feared an enemy. We'll fight.

- You can not fight them! - Lara kicked on the floor - Their weapons are much more sophisticated. They will make a massacre with all of you!

Then the shots stopped. Gunderson gave a curt order from an elevated position (he was on a dune) and immediately mercenaries ceased fire. The Bedouins did the same, waiting for the dialogue.

Gunderson's booming voice was heard throughout the camp.

- Nomads! Workers! We do not want your death. We came looking for a woman named Lara Croft. Give her to us and you'll have no more deaths to mourn.

- I knew that.- Lara muttered quietly.

Putai rose. Black as ebony, she was a beautiful woman, and shone with pride and dignity of her race.

- Come with me, Lara. - told to her friend, and walked towards the head of the mercenaries.

Lara looked at her and wondered if she was going crazy. She reluctantly followed to the Bedouin, but with her gun raised and her finger on the trigger.

Putai stopped a few steps from Gunderson.

- Who are you? - she snapped, her head held high.

- Marten Gunderson, at your service, madam. - he said mockingly. Then he looked at Lara - I see you have that _slut_ with you.

Lara fired. The shot fell just at the foot of Gunderson and made him jump back. The Bedouin laughed, and applauded enthusiastically.

Gunderson flushed with rage.

- It's the last time you make fun of me, woman. Now's your chance to show your nobility, if you have some. Depose the weapon and surrender, and I swear on my honor as mercenary that we won't hurt anyone else. I'll tell my men to retire and leave in peace this pathetic company of diggers and this bunch of filthy ragged. - he said looking at Putai with contempt - However, if you still resist to me I won't leave anyone alive in this whole damn place.

- What is he saying? - asked Putai. Gunderson was talking in English and neither she nor any Bedouin understand it.

Lara quickly translated his words. Putai indignantly turned to Gunderson and spat in his direction.

- Let them come if they want! We'll face them!

Lara shook her head, exhausted. She looked around. The Bedouins were waiting, stood motionless. The workers were hiding in the wreckage of the shops, terrified. Kurtis was near, and beside him, a terrified and trembling Jean.

She exchanged a desperate glance with Kurtis. He slowly shook his head.

_Do not ever surrender_.

But that meant a slaughter. The rickety old revolvers and machine guns of the nomads could not face the sophisticated weapons of the mercenaries. It would be a bloodbath. She could avoid that. She...

- I do not know where you come from or why you're looking for her.- Putai then spoke in French for Gunderson to understand. - But you'll have to step over our dead bodies.

She raised high the rod, powerful, exultant, and then she launched the war cry of the Bedouins, a shrill whistle which was achieved by prolonging and striking the tongue on both sides of the mouth: the _zagharit_.

That was the signal. Then the Bedouins, all together, attacked.

(…)

Kurtis turned the hip and pressed a side kick in the stomach of a mercenary. Then he struck with a blow of another. He catch the Chirugai on the fly (which came to cut a few throats) and drew the Boran.

- They are like cockroaches. – he grunted - The more you kill, the more appear out of nowhere.

He knew how competent and tireless they could become: once he was one of them. Gunderson's new mercenaries were equipped specifically for the desert, and had express orders not to hurt him; so he felt allowed to doing carnage.

The killing spread throughout the area. The Bedouins fought and defended themselves vigorously. In fact, that was their land. But they could do little against those trained and well armed soldiers.

- They'll kill them all. – Kurtis said quietly. - They have no chance.

Jean, who was at his side, shuddered. He carried a small revolver in hand, but he preferred to pass away before to dare to hit a shot.

- Where's Lara? - Kurtis said.

- I've seen her recently by here. - said the French – She was protecting miss Putai.

Kurtis opened fire in the direction of Jean. The bullet passed near his head and pierced the forehead of a mercenary who was about to stab the Egyptologist in the back.

- Be on the ball. – he urged to the terrified Jean - I can not watch for you.

He turned and started to run for Lara.

The French archaeologist stood alone amid the chaos, holding the gun with trembling hands.

- _Mon Dieu_! – he complained – I never should left Cairo!

(…)

Half an hour later it was over.

The camp was quiet. A dead silence. The sand was soaked with blood and littered with corpses. Bedouins. Egyptians. Mercenaries. Many bodies of different ethnicities ... mixed in the same final embrace.

Amidst this bleak picture, a man devoted himself to the arduous task of examining the bodies. He was virtually unscathed, and also the short, fat man behind him.

- They've taken her... – Kurtis repeated again and again, his teeth clenched in anger - She must have been kidnapped!

Lara was not found anywhere. His anguish and concern were increasing, and for once he did not bother himself to hide that.

- Look! Out of there! - said Jean.

They ran to the place he had indicated. Putai was lying face down on the sand. Kurtis turned her gently, and immediately he knew he couldn't do anything for her. The shaman's bloodstained body was gunned down.

She opened her eyes, coughing. A trickle of blood slipped out of the corner of her lips. Kurtis held her in his arms and incorporated her so she could breathe.

- Demon Hunter... - Putai whispered.

- Where's Lara? - he said.

The Bedouin's cloudy, glassy eyes squinted, and she coughed again.

- She tried to defend me. – she stammered – She ran out of bullets and fought until she could no more. I tried to help her, but I am not a warrior. That bald man approached her from behind and hit her head. They took her. I tried to stop them...

A convulsion shook her. The pain was an excruciating torture. She again coughed and expelled a new spurt of blood through her mouth.

Kurtis, still holding her, moved his hand to the Boran. One shot, fast and accurate will suddenly cut her suffering and give her a better death. He had often done that with some fellow legionnaires in the front.

Putai saw his gesture and apparently understood what he was about to do. She raised a trembling and bloodied hand and put it on his shoulder.

- It is not necessary. - she gurgled – I'm going to join my ancestors. Find Lara ... please swear that you will find her... and that you will destroy those who have done this to us.

- I swear. - he ratified - You can be sure of that.

Putai relaxed. She dropped her hand down and grabbed a handful of faintly red sand of Egypt. She took it to her lips, making a last tribute to her land and breathed her last time. Then her green eyes moistened and remained staring into space.

Kurtis rested her gently on the ground and closed her eyes. Taking the edge of her dark robe, he completely covered her and stood up.

Jean had seen the scene in silence. The archaeologist was quietly sobbing and tears ran down his cheeks.

For a moment, Kurtis wished he could do the same. To take out his rage. To mourn and howl with anger at that useless carnage. But tears didn't come to his eyes. So many years ago tears had been dried from him... so many years he spent living in the shadow of death and destruction... so he had learned to endure that.

He looked at his arms. All them were covered with blood. He took one last look at the Bedouin's corpse and strode away while saying:

- Come on. No time to lose.

- But the bodies ... - Jean hesitated – They're unburied, and the desert's beasts...

- They're the living who need our help .- Kurtis replied dryly.

Jean followed Kurtis through the desolate wasteland, trying not to step on any body.

- What are we supposed to do? The Government...

- You will take care of the Government. - Kurtis replied - Take a jeep back to Cairo and tell to the authorities what happened here.

The Egyptologist made a face of horror.

- What should I say?

Kurtis was gathering his things at full speed and keeping them in the baggage attached to his motorbike (which was inexplicably still intact despite everything that happened).

- Tell them that the responsible of all this is Marten Gunderson, who recently escaped from a prison in Romania. Tell them that he and a sect known as the Cabal are also responsible for the crimes committed in Paris and Prague.

He got on the motorbike and looked at Jean.

- Seeing the way you look, I'm sure they won't doubt of your words.

Indeed, the French had his clothes torn into pieces; his body was plenty of sand and filled with scratches and bruises.

- You must contact with European police. Tell them that _The Monstrum_ is not Lara Croft, but Joachim Karel. You should remember this name.

Jean nodded feeling dizzy.

- Lara told me about two people... Selma Al-Jazeera and Vladimir Ivanoff. She said they knew the truth.

- They knew that indeed. - he confirmed - Try to contact them. It will be easier with their testimony.

- Good luck, _monsieur_ Trent.

He made a nod and started towards the road. Jean appropriated one of the jeeps and, without looking back, he went to Cairo.

(…)

Upon reaching the bank of the Nile, Kurtis halted and glimpsed the landscape around him. His tracker skills had served little in the desert, for the brand of tires of Gunderson's jeeps had been erased by the wind quickly. He was in a stalemate.

Not far from the shore of the great river there was a small village with a gas station next door. A Western view in that typical Egyptian landscape

Along the shore there was a group of playing children. They were running and throwing the mud of the river one to each other amid a cacophony of screams and squeals in general.

One of them left the group and went towards Kurtis.

- Wow! – he exclaimed - What a cool motorbike!

The man looked at the child. He was not more than ten years old; he was skinny and dressed in rags. He was one of those street children who lived to rob tourists and knew English because of that.

- Do you want to ride it? - he said.

The child opened his eyes wide and nodded excitedly. Kurtis got off his bike, picked up the little body and laid it on the seat of the vehicle.

He was not very enthusiastic with kids, but experience had shown to him that if he knew how to treat them, they could become a valuable source of information.

A girl, also dirty and ragged, made a fearful gesture and came up with them.

- Amir! – she shouted with a trembling voice - Come here!

It seemed obvious she was afraid of Kurtis. But the boy was not willing to get off the motorbike so soon.

- Oh, shut up Fadila! - he replied. Then he told Kurtis: - She's my older sister and she believes she has the right to command me. She is so suspicious! Before you arrived she did the same with the other foreigners.

- What foreigners? - he said, pretending not to give importance to the issue.

Fadila looked at him suspiciously.

- Here are coming hundreds of foreigners every day. - she murmured - Why should we differentiate one from another?

_Bravo_, thought Kurtis. _A smart girl_.

Again it was Amir who intervened.

- Do not play dumb, Fadila. Not all foreigners bring a dead woman with them.

- Amir! - screamed the girl, shocked.

_This is going well_, thought Kurtis, and he added:

- A dead woman?

Amir, tired of not being the center of attention, told:

- There were hundreds of men, with several jeeps. They stopped to refuel at the pump. I went into one of the jeeps taking advantage of that no one was looking and I found the dead woman.

- So did you rob them?

- Yes! - proudly admitted the child - I am the best in the region. No one has caught me yet.

- You're stupid. - Fadila said – Those were bad men. If that bald one had caught you...

- He measured about three meters tall! - Amir continued enthusiastically.

Kurtis spoke again.

- And how was the woman?

- She was beautiful. She had braided hair and she was dressed in a very rare way, as Western explorers. Those bad guys had bounded and gagged her.

- Well, then she was _not _dead. - said Fadila, circumspect - No one uses to gag corpses.

- Are you _so_ sure, aren't you? - Amir snapped, annoyed - The woman was dead! I kicked her in the shin and she didn't even blink. She was dead like a stone!

- Do you know where they go? - Kurtis said, abandoning all discretion.

- They took the North Road. - Fadila said.

The man nodded with a sharp gesture. He turned, lifted the child from the motorbike and then left him on the floor.

- I have to leave, guys. Farewell and good luck.

He jumped into the vehicle, took off and got lost on the road, leaving a trail of dust. Amir stayed silent for a moment, remembering the metallic touch of the motorbike. Then he turned to his sister and said accusingly:

- You're unbearable! First you act like a suspicious and then you made him to leave!

- Oh, shut up. - said Fadila – Haven't you see that he was _her_ boyfriend?

Amir blinked, confused.

- The dead woman's boyfriend? How you know that?

She narrowed her eyes.

- A woman knows about these things.

- Bah! - cried the child, and threw a handful of mud in her eyes – You women know nothing!

They engaged in a new battle of mud.

(…)

Lara regained consciousness in a slowly and laboriously way. All her body's bones were hurting, and when she tried to move a pang pierced her temples. Her head was spinning nonstop. She tried to breathe, but she found her mouth gagged with a flexible band that was sunk between her lips without mercy.

When attempting to open her eyes, her blurred vision found cloudy pictures and dancing lights, so she closed them again. She heard nothing except an annoying ringing in the ears and something resembling airplane propellers.

She vaguely remembered what had happened. She was trying to shield Putai when a group of mercenaries had attacked them. A great moment to run out of bullets. Both her and Putai had fought like lions (the shaman's rod had opened more than a skull), but in the end they had been reduced. Lara could have escaped easily, but something inside her rebelled against the idea of abandoning the Bedouin to her fate. And then she felt that brutal elbow to the temple. And the darkness that followed.

- How are you, miss Croft?

That mocking voice made her open the eyes, and through the mist that clouded them she saw Gunderson's face. She tried to move, but she had been thoroughly tied, and every attempt to move made those shackles to dig into her flesh like knives.

- The plane is going to take off. – the man told her - In a few hours we will be in Munich. The Master sends you his greetings and awaits _anxiously_ your arrival. – he laughed.

Lara closed her eyes. They hurt her too much.

She didn't fear for herself. At least, she would not begin to fear nothing serious until she was again before that monster of Karel. At the moment, there was no use worrying about it. She had been kidnapped, beaten, bound and gagged a thousand times. That did not frighten her.

However, she should find some way... maybe if she pretended that...

Gunderson was alarmed when she began to cough. After a few seconds, she looked like she was having an attack. Her face was red and her eyes bulged.

- She's choking! - said the mercenary who was watching at her.

- Nonsense. - Gunderson replied- She can breathe perfectly.

But Lara was still coughing and uttering muffled whispers, and the mercenary said:

- She may be choked with all that cotton.

Gunderson grunted impatiently. His greatest wish was that damned woman died there, but that was not convenient at all. He approached her; withdrew her jaw and pull out the cotton which was on her mouth.

Everything happened at breakneck speed. Lara grabbed the index and middle finger's Gunderson with her teeth and crushed them with the molars. She heard Gunderson's screams, but she did not release him and bit with all her strength, closing her eyes. She noticed how his finger bones crunched between her teeth and almost instantly a brutal impact on her cheekbone almost knocked her unconscious. Stunned, she dropped Gunderson's hand and fell back. Above the deafening ringing in her ears she heard the bully bawling:

- _You dirty piece of slut!_

She opened her eyes and saw Gunderson's bloody hand which he was grasping with an expression of rage and pain. His fingers were bent at an impossible angle.

Out of rage, the bully kicked her in the stomach. Lara doubled herself, gasping for breath.

Marten Gunderson would have killed Lara Croft in that moment and place if several mercenaries had not pounced on him and remove him from her side. The hitman was screaming like an animal:

- _Enough! Remove her out of my way! Get her out of my sight or I'll kill her! I swear I'll kill that damned whoooooore!_

Thousands of hands were thrown over her, so she started biting, spitting and kicking out of control. Only then she realized how much her joints were hurting. How exhausted she was. That struggle was useless. She was going to lose. She was going to...

A short kick in her head cut off her disheveled thoughts.


	17. Chapter 17: This man will survive

**Chapter 17: "This man will survive..."**

Minos Axiotis leaned back on his chair and sighed. He looked at the icon of the _Theotokos_ hanging on the wall and sighed again, this time more deeply.

_Blessed Mother, give me strength to bear this uncertainty._

The last time he was able to contact Lara and Kurtis had been at the hotel in Brasov. Since they had gone to Egypt had not heard about them.

He was afraid that something bad had happened. Something that tipped the balance in favor of Evil. If only he could...

The phone rang.

Minos looked at the device and shuddered. This was not normal. In his retirement, he did not use any media (that was against their _modus vivendi_ and the holy rules of their community), but he had been forced to use it to contact the Amazonian and the Lux Veritatis.

But always it had been him who called. It was impossible that somebody could locate him. It was impossible...

With a convulsive motion, he picked up the phone.

The voice he heard through the headset was cold and sharp as steel.

- _Geiá sou_, Minos Axiotis.

The old man let out a gasp.

- Who are you?

- My mortal name is Joachim Karel. – he said in a perfect Greek - As for my _real_ name, you're not worthy of knowing it.

Minos noticed he was shaking. He was talking to a Nephilim! An immortal... an angel... a demon.

- What do you want?

- Oh, just to inform you of the latest moves. It seems that your contacts do not work very well lately. Maybe it's because I have sent my servers to kill them all. So I will be your only contact from now. Be thankful, holy man, since not everyone can now afford the privilege that you enjoy.

The old man took a deep breath and tried to take a firm voice.

- Say what you want.

- I have the Amazonian.

Minos groaned, and Karel, hearing that, responded with a laugh.

- Surprised? The story is repeating again. _Drakul_ seized Loanna, but he made the mistake of underestimating her. He did not predict what a desperate human could do. He didn't see in time that she preferred death than serving him. I won't make that mistake. I know what I can expect from the future _mother_ of the Nephilim.

Minos could not speak, absorbed in his horror, and Karel thus continued:

- It was not easy to get her. The Lux Veritatis has fought hard and he even hurt me to avoid it. I really didn't expect so much energy from that _rat_, but now I know that he's stupid enough to sacrifice his life for her. He already did that once, I remember. It's _so_ typical of a human, isn't it?

- Why are you telling me all this? - Minos said, clenching his fists in frustration.

- You know that, dotard. The Lux Veritatis will come for her, driven by a stupid sense of honor and responsibility that had all members of his Order. Yes, he's a worthy opponent, but he has a great fault: he's human. That will make him lose.

Karel lowered his voice to a whisper.

- Call him. Come on. He is now in Cairo. I'll give you his location. Call him and tell him what I'm going to do to her. And then tell me his reaction.

- Monster. - Minos snapped. - You're Satan.

Karel burst into laughter.

- _Satan?_ That one is only the result of your fevered imagination. I am real, Minos. And precisely for that I am much more dangerous.

The old man closed his eyes. That _must_ be a nightmare.

- I won't do anything you ask me.

- You will anyway. I will force you.

Minos abruptly hung up, unable to stand for a second that hateful voice. He dropped his head in his hands and trembled violently.

Evil seemed to success and open its way.

His thoughts turned to Kurtis. To the day when he met him... in person.

The Lux Veritatis's warrior did not remember that day. But Minos himself did. He'll remember it forever.

The images and memories came back to him with total clarity...

(…)

_That was a dark and foul tunnel. Minos advanced through it, hidden in the hood of his robe and escorted by some of the brothers. They were armed. Not him. He would never carry a gun. Never._

_- You must abstain from violence. – he advised - Do not use weapons unless absolutely necessary._

_A peaceful man, Minos Axiotis had vowed not ever touch any weapon or harm any living being._

_The circumstances that had led them to the Strahov were quite extraordinary. He was terrified at what they could find at the end of the tunnel._

_This one ended in a huge circular room. There was a huge rack in the center, under which water sparkled._

_- Holy God! - gasped one of them - What is that?_

_There was a monstrous creature toppled to the ground. It looked like a spider, but it was much more elongated and their proportions were exorbitant._

_The walls and floor were sprinkled with a disgusting green liquid. When one of the brothers touched it, he screamed and had to get ride of it. That thing burned like acid._

_A few meters of that repulsive appearance, there was another corpse. This one was decapitated and looked... seemed a strange hybrid of woman and dragonfly, with a pair of blades similar to those of a praying mantis._

_- This is devil's work.- sentenced another, crossing himself with horror._

_Then Minos saw him. He was lying motionless on his side, over a huge pool of blood. They ran towards him and surrounded him._

_- It's him! - Minos said – My dear God, what has happened here?_

_One of the brothers - Karolis - leaned over and placed the body face up. Great was their astonishment at seeing that the man shuddered and let out a groan._

_- He's alive!_

_It seemed impossible. He had a huge hole in the stomach and was bleeding in spurts._

_- Quick!- said Minos – Give me a piece of robe._

_He tore the garment into strips and applied around the waist's man, trying to stop the bleeding._

_- It's useless. - Karolis said - You can't hold the blood with that. He's going to die._

_The wounded man opened his eyes at that time. They were deep blue, like his father's. His eyes were glazed and lost, and a trickle of blood ran from his lips._

_He raised a shaking hand and tried to grab a gun that was holstered on his side, but his forces were too weak and dropped the hand again to his side._

_Karolis understood. He bent and picked up the gun. Then he pointed to his head._

_- No! - cried Minos – Are you going mad?_

_- No remedy.- Karolis said - We can not save him. It's better to end quickly with his suffering._

_The man rocked back and let out a howl of pain._

_- But ... - Minos hesitated._

_The wounded man screamed again. There was blood everywhere. Then he fixed his glance in his pious executioner and held it with fortitude. He wanted to die._

_But Minos' compassionate nature rebelled at that idea._

_- Drop that gun. – he ordered curtly._

_Karolis, who already had his finger pulling the trigger, hesitated._

_- Drop it, I said!_

_- Father, Karolis is right. - a brother intervened .- This man is dying. It's better to end his suffering_

_- No. - said Minos, and moved between Karolis and the wounded man - Let's get him out of here and we'll take him to a hospital._

_- He'll die anyway!_

_- Enough! - cried Minos. Suddenly, he felt furious – Did you forget who this man is? Kurtis Trent is Konstantin's son! Did you forget what his father did for us? Yes, yes, the same Konstantin who saved our lives! Now we have his son dying here... And the only thing you think of is to kill him!_

_- Father..._

_- Silence! – he was enraged - Quick, you have to move! And woe to you if he dies before reaching the hospital!_

_The brothers stared at each other, stunned. Then they bowed down and moved quickly to attend the injured man._

_He saw that Karolis had down the gun, and then turned his head and went unconscious, unable to bear the pain._

_- He'll live ... - Minos muttered as watching how he was taken – This man will survive! I swear this for God's sake!_

(…)

And he survived, but only due to Minos, because in addition to wage a bloody battle with the brothers, he also had to deal with doctors. They had refused to operate him. According to them, he had no chance of surviving. It was better to administrate him morphine to quell the pain and let him go.

Minos was not convinced. He _must _live. When screams, cries and entreaties failed to move their hearts, the money did so. Those heartless were bribed with an amount that the brotherhood could not afford. Then Minos himself and all the brothers had to offer their veins because in the son of Konstantin's body had not practically blood left.

Against all odds, Kurtis survived.

Doctors were bewildered. The operation was very high risk and the damaged organs seemed to never function normally again. The bleeding had been too great. But he survived, because some avatar of fate made that monstrous scythe that had crossed him from side to side had damaged neither the aorta nor the spine.

Within weeks he was out of danger.

- I can't believe my eyes. - said Karolis - Doctors have told it's a miracle.

- Of course, brother – sighed Minos - Absolutely.

(…)

Kurtis was in a bar, in a lost village between Karnak and Luxor. Anyone would have said he was totally at tourism. It was not so.

He knew how to find his own sources and to search for contacts, so he carefully chose his victim. He was an employee of an illegal aircraft hangar. He would know if Gunderson had left the country (he did not believe him _such_ stupid to catch a plane while taking a hostage), but this guy would never provide any information willingly.

He had two options: the fast track was to make him _sing_ by brute force. Unfortunately that meant that the victim would remember his face for a long time ... which was not convenient at all. So he chose the slow lane, even he was impatient, and invited the man to a couple of drinks at the nearest bar.

It is said that children and drunks never lie. He had done a talking to children. Now it was the turn of the drunk.

With that man Kurtis played the braggart Legionnaire role, posing as the typical desert fox who knows everything that happens between the sky and the ground. With that and the help of a Jack Daniel's bottle, after a while the guy was talking up a storm.

- So really were you at Kosovo? - said the guy – That's incredible!

- Do you see this? - Kurtis noted a long scar beside his left eye. - A stab from a Croat. I almost ran out of an eye.

- Incredible! - he repeated.

Of course, that was a lie. But the guy was so drunk at that point that Kurtis would have been able to convince him that donkeys can fly. And with the gauze still in his temple and his best face of pimp, he fully imposed his domain.

- What do you do? - Kurtis said, filling the other's glass for the umpteenth time.

- I'm an aircraft pilot - said the other, emptying the glass in one gulp - People pay me and I help them to left the country without having to put tolls or customs. But today I've a day off and I was replaced by a colleague.

- You must have seen people of all kinds. - he said, putting a cigarette between his lips.

- Certainly! Some mafia guys and smugglers. What they do is not my business, whether they pay me.- then looked askance at Kurtis - You have not drunk too much, man.

In fact, Kurtis still had his first glass half full, when his partner was on the twelfth. He had only wet his lips a few times.

- I can not overdo. – he replied with a calm smile - I recently had a stomach surgery and I shouldn't be playing with this.

At least, that was _not_ a lie. In fact, he was _really_ good at resisting alcohol's effects (when the guy would be on the floor he would feel _only_ a slight tingling in the body), but it was _not_ time to get drunk, not even to be more convincing.

- Bah, no matter. - said the other, eagerly watching his glass - I'll take care of yours.

Kurtis rushed to fill his glass again.

- Well, now that you mention it today has been there quite rare. – his voice began to be a bit slowly – A small group which had in hand a kidnapping.

- Well, looks like you have a leak in your glass. - Kurtis said, filling it again.

That was the final shot. That inept could not resist any longer the temptation to brag to the maximum and his tongue was dropped altogether.

- You should have seen _that_ woman! – he croaked - What a woman! A daddy's girl, no doubt, but what a beastie she was! She awoke when they were getting her on the plane. She was gagged and all but, the girl was strong enough to bite the bald man who looked like a titan and before they knocked her off she already had left three gunmen injured. A kick-ass girl, and she was _even_ tied! She made them to collect their teeth all over the floor. Actually, I do not envy whoever has to be her jailer. I think she'll be released before to collect the ransom.

He gave a loud laugh and punched the table, rattling the cups. Middle bar turned to look at him.

- You look like a man of resources. - Kurtis said hastily, seeing the guy crumble - Do you know where they've taken her?

- Aaahh, my friend. - said the other, dull-minded- Gotcha. You're looking for her, right? She was taken to Munich. But if someone knows that...

He did not finish the sentence. He collapsed on the table, turning the glass. Some customers pointed to him, laughing.

Kurtis decided that he had called enough attention. He got up and walked to the bar's door. He pointed his thumb at the drunk and said to the bartender before leaving:

- He said he'll pay the bill.

(…)

Karel undressed from head to waist and turned to Giselle. She, trying to control her trembling hands, gently separated the gauze that covered his side.

- Oh. – she sighed – The wound's still unhealed.

The Chirugai had caused him a terrible wound and even had broken his rib, which was now intact. The Nephilim were able to heal their wounds quickly and easily, but something about that wound angered Karel and baffled Giselle: it barely seemed to have been healed, and then returned to open up and bleed.

- I do not understand. - Karel hissed through clenched teeth - I have been injured worse than this over the centuries, many of them caused by the Lux Veritatis, and I've never had any problems. Why it's not healing this?

Giselle applied clean bandages to the wound, while staining her hands with luminous white blood.

- Maybe's that weapon. - she suggested - There's something on the edge of those blades that prevents complete healing. Or maybe it's the curse that pervades you with that man. Probably and injury made by him will never heal.

- Then it may work also backwards. It is important to remember. – the Nephilim whispered with a confident smile.

Suddenly there were shouts and scuffling in the hallway. Giselle ignored them, accustomed to patient's rebellion, but at the moment the bedroom door opened and Marten Gunderson appeared. He had one hand wrapped in rags and was very pale.

- I see you're back from Egypt. - Karel said, getting dressed again.

- Yes, Master. - he replied, waving a nod - I have that bitch. My men are taking her to a room. Those howls you hear are from her, making a scandal.

- And what have done that ... mmm ... _bitch_ to you? - Karel said with an ironic twang, adjusting her black scarf around his neck.

- This! – he grumbled, showing his injured hand.

Giselle gasped. He had two fingers broken and crushed. The doctor examined with a critical eye and said:

- You have that bones completely splintered. Sorry, Marten, but I'm going to amputate your fingers.

Gunderson gave a loud and resounding block and collapsed on a chair, grumbling and cursing under his breath.

Karel blinked in surprise:

- You said she has done _that_ to you?

- Yes, Master. She pretended to be choking with the gag and when I was removing it she bit me.

- _Did she bite you?_

The Nephilim dropped his head on his chest and put a hand on his forehead. Then he shook his shoulders and Gunderson thought he would get angry. Giselle stepped back, frightened, but then Karel threw back his head and burst into laughter.

The hitman frowned, annoyed. Giselle looked again at his crushed fingers and began to wonder _what_ kind of woman was Lara Croft.

- Well, Gunderson. - Karel said when he regained his breath - I think you deserve some kind of compensation. I'm hard, but not ungrateful. Ask what you want and you will be granted that.

Marten Gunderson had dreamt a thousand times about that moment. He had hoped that Eckhardt would reward for his efforts with immortality. But all his plans and major projects had collapsed. He had long wanted only one thing, and every time he wanted that more intensely.

- I want to kill Lara Croft. – he spat between his teeth.

Karel's eyebrows went up, even more astonished, and said with a grin:

- You demand too much, Gunderson. She's mine.

- When you finish with her - insisted the killer – I want to be the one to kill her.

The Nephilim laughed again. He enjoyed the humans' hatred and fear of death. That was his amusement.

- Granted. – he said, and turning to Giselle, he added - When you've done the cure, you'll take care of Lara Croft. You know what to do.

The doctor nodded and proceeded to prepare the instruments to intervene Gunderson.

(…)

Karel went to the Library, which was adjacent to the Laboratory. Luther Rouzic was there waiting for him with the Periapt, recently delivered to him by one of the mercenaries.

Rouzic was a man at all creepy. Tall, thin and pale as a corpse, completely bald. The frightening thing was his glass eye, inserted into an empty socket traversed by the scar of a blow from a manticore. The monster had emptied his eye at the order of Eckhardt as punishment for an escape attempt, and since then he had served the Cabal with great devotion and fidelity.

A specialist in symbolism and experienced in its study, Rouzic felt at the time the same fascination by the Periapt as Lara. Karel went into his office and immediately he rose and greeted him with due respect. Then he offered him the orb with the same deference. The Nephilim turned the crystal ball in his hands, carefully observing the engraved symbols.

- Be careful, my Master- Rouzic advised, dropping his wheezing and mellow voice – Its sharp fragments could harm you.

Karel glared at the librarian. He shuddered and lowered his eye to the ground.

- This glass can only hurt me if it's wield by a Lux Veritatis .- Karel said with his icy voice - I do _not_ need you to look for my weaknesses, Rouzic. You will not find many, anyway.

Leaving the Periapt on the desk, he continued:

- What about the Shards?

- Well kept, as ordered by yours, my Master.

- I think there is the possibility of reuniting them. Back to merge the three Shards with the original sphere.

Rouzic said, admired:

- Without a doubt it would remove the risk posed to you, Master. – seeing the glare of Karel, he hastened to add – But I do not see how. The Periapt recomposes itself in a millisecond. I do not know how the Lux Veritatis succeeded in separating them.

- We have to get that - sentenced Karel. – You'll begin immediately with the study of the symbols. Lara Croft has done something already, and I'm sure that you will interest in her input.

Rouzic made a subtle sneer.

- She's just a common treasures thief. What can she know that I don't know?

That wasn't simply arrogance. Luther Rouzic was the most proficient in symbolism, cryptography, and coding hieroglyphics in Europe, and had little to envy of other experts worldwide.

Karel nodded and called a mercenary who laid on the table a bundle of papers.

- Gunderson brought it from her tent in Al-Fayoum .- he explained - Take a look, Rouzic, you'll found that interesting. Maybe she's just a thief who intended to pass by archaeologist, but she's also the smartest woman I've met in my long-lived existence. Alas, what a Nephilim had been her if she were not human. – he said to himself.

The librarian took the leaves with a dismissive gesture and examined them superficially. After a few seconds, he dropped his jaw and gasped softly.

- Surprised? - Karel said - I leave you for study. With your experience and her brilliance, you will give me both the True Option earlier than expected.


	18. Chapter 18: Giselle Boaz

**Chapter 18: Giselle Boaz**

Lara wondered if it was worth opening her eyes. She already knew what was going to see: nothing. The Laboratory's rooms were locked and bolted, leaving the patients in darkness while bounded to stretchers and without any possibility of moving.

She silently reviewed all similar situations that had occurred to her, and came to the sad conclusion that she had never been worse. Her ankles and wrists hurt when trying in vain to remove the straps. The slightest movement was torture.

The darkness had sharpened her hearing so she could hear a murmur or far cries, and occasional screams or screeching metal. At least, she was not _entirely_ isolated.

But where was she? That place resembled to Prague's Sanitarium, which knew by Kurtis' descriptions. As to what they would do to her, Lara intuited it, and although not harboring any hope of getting rid of _that_, she resolutely decided not to give to the enemy the satisfaction of seeing that she was desperate.

The door opened by a jam and a pulsing yellow light filled the narrow room. It reflected into the white tiles' room so glowing that Lara was dazzled.

When she got used to the searing glare, Lara saw the person who had entered, and let out a gasp of astonishment:

- Boaz?

The woman looked up, annoyed. Indeed, she was alike to the Cabalistic scientist she had met in Prague, but this one had blonde hair and her skin was perfect, without the horrible burns that had framed the face of the other.

- Yes – she said with the same melodious voice - I'm Dr. Boaz, though not the same as you surely would remember. That was my sister Kristina. I'm Giselle.

Lara looked how she filled a syringe with a clear liquid.

- And I see - she continued - you're the woman for whom my _Meister_ has taken so much trouble. You're really disappointing. You're not worthy for that at all.

Lara studied the scientist's face, her narrowed eyes, her tight lips, and what she discovered almost made her laugh. _That woman was jealous! Jealous of her!_

Definitely, it was the last straw.

- Let's swap our places.- muttered Lara - You lie here, then I inject that crap to you and when your beloved Master came I'll switch off the light to see if he notices the difference.

That comment produced the desired effect. Giselle quickly dropped the syringe on the tray, and slapped Lara. It wasn't a hard blow, but she just kicked her on the bruised cheek by Gunderson's punch.

Indomitable, Lara didn't give up.

- _What!_ – she exclaimed, surprised and ironic - Did you bother what I said?

Giselle, through clenched teeth, plunged the syringe into her arm and murmured:

- You're just a bitch. I don't know what had seen my Master in you. But very soon you'll stop saying nonsense.

Lara gave her a sly smile in reply. Enraged, the doctor came out and slammed the door. Back in the hall, she walked a few steps and leaned against the wall to recover her breath. She could not control her tremors, and dropping her head in her hands, she burst into uncontrolled and convulsive sobs.

(…)

Kurtis parked the motorbike in the alley and went out onto the busy street. He had just arrived in Munich, and was almost at the limit of his strength.

- I need a holiday. – he grunted, rubbing his sore neck.

Doing a bit of logic, he had deduced that if the Cabal had one of its bases in Munich, it would be in a prominent but not too obvious place. The city was vast and the base could be anywhere.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been patient and he had been tying up loose ends by the system of asking and remaining unnoticed. But time had run out for him and patience as well. He decided to use his farsee.

He evoked Lara's face and name and mentally projected that in all directions. If someone in that city had seen or heard of Lara in the last twenty-four hours, he would locate that person immediately.

The result was a mental noise that almost got on his nerves. Almost all Munich's city had heard of her, since she was the most wanted "criminal" in Europe.

Cursing himself for his stupidity, Kurtis got rid of the tangle and began again, evoking only Lara's face.

_Bingo_. Thirty people had seen her at least in the last six hours. The nearest was only a couple streets from him. Quick and silent, Kurtis started to chase him.

Throughout his life, Kurtis had made more mistakes than successes. Not because of incompetence but because the events had been unfavorable to him. He always took the wrong decision, ended at the inconvenient place or did and said the wrong thing.

At the Louvre he had made the mistake of being _too much_ distracted with Lara's presence and led him to be captured by Eckhardt. At the Strahov he had made the mistake of not waiting for another ambush and so he was caught again, forcing Lara to give Eckhardt the last Painting. He had made the mistake of giving his back to Boaz when he believed her dead. And lastly, at Egypt he had made the mistake of losing sight of Lara.

Luckily, he knew how to fix his mistakes, quickly and effectively. But now, for once in his life, what he intended to do _must_ go well. He deserved it!

His farsee hadn't failed to him. That man had seen Lara recently. But had he entered into the base?

If only he was a Gunderson's mercenary ... he only asked for that...

Suddenly, the guy turned around. That surprised him, because there were almost ten meters and hundreds of people between them. In addition, he had been extremely discreet. But he knew that guy had discovered him when he crossed his glance with him.

Both started running at the same time. The guy ran away, before him, both colliding and bumping into the flood of people.

Fortunately, the persecuted man made the mistake of getting into an alley to escape the hassle of running through the crowd. So he came to a dead end.

Finding himself cornered, the man, who was dressed in casual wear, drew a gun and pointed at his pursuer, who stopped nearly. But before he could even put his finger on the trigger, the whistling Chirugai had dropped the weapon from his hands, throwing it out of reach.

- Ok. – he said, catching the flying Chirugai- Now we're just you and me.

- What do you want? - snapped the other, looking at the glaive with fear.

- Just look at this. - he said, and passed his hand before his eyes.

Suddenly, the man jumped back and crushed his back against the wall, his eyes wide open. He uttered a cry of horror and began to fuss, as if trying to protect himself from some invisible attacker.

- No! – he shouted - Enough! Tell _that_ to go away!

- We'll see. Do you work for Marten Gunderson?

- Yes!

- Have you recently kidnapped a woman? A woman named Lara Croft?

- Yes! Get that out of my sight, please!

- Where have you brought her?

- To the Lab! God, get that thing away from me or kill me _now_!

The unfortunate was curled up against the wall and covered his head with his hands. The thing which terrified him was not real, since it existed only in his mind and the more he feared it, the more he was increasing its power.

- Answer to everything I ask you and I'll made that to go away. - Kurtis continued relentlessly.

And the man said all he wanted. It was a tough and well trained guy; he would have endured any torture except _that,_ except contemplating such horror: an ancient fear that had haunted him throughout his life and was now materialized before his eyes. He described the place where they had brought Lara. He told him how to enter and get out. He gave him all identification codes. And Kurtis listened to all in silence, without moving a finger from her folded arms.

- Ok.- he finally accorded- I'll do as promised.

And he again passed his hand across his eyes. The man looked around and breathed with a sigh of relief. Then, he fixed his terrified eyes on Kurtis.

- Who _the hell_ are you?

- Your worst nightmare. - he answered sharply - If I were you I would not say anything about what just happened here, my friend, or I swear I'll send you back _that_ thing you've seen and this time I'll make it to stay with you for the rest of your life.

From that unfortunate face's expression Kurtis felt sure he would keep an eternal silence on the subject.

He left the alley despising himself for having used that resource. The Lux Veritatis had the ability to torture people by showing them the most feared nightmares of each one. Terrified by the possible misuse of that power, they had strictly prohibited to use it. They had other resources to fight, and they also could rely on each other.

But now Kurtis was the last one and he was alone. He was the only one left to face all this evil, against which the entire Order had fought. It was too much at stake to tread rules and scruples.

- The end justifies the means. – he sentenced while riding the motorbike again and went to the city's suburbs.

(…)

Lara felt consumed and empty. She had lost track of time due to the constant fluctuation between periods of consciousness and unconsciousness. She saw only blackness and piercing intervals of yellow light. She saw other faces apart from that doll-faced doctor, disfigured by hatred and jealousy, and the assistant warden Friedrich. No more than those piercing straps pressing at her numbed body and the continuous pricking in her arm.

What were they injecting to her? Some kind of sedative drugs, according to the effects. Sometimes she lost her consciousness and sometimes she felt weakened. That must be some hormone serum to undermine her strength, to make it gentle as a lamb. To make her not to resist when it came the time to...

_No, damn it! I'm not a laboratory guinea pig!_

That was a nightmare. It had to be. Maybe she awake soon…

The door opened and that ghastly light blinded her again.

- Good morning, my little one.

- Good morning to you, asshole. - Lara muttered, relieved at seeing it was Friedrich and _not Karel_.

The assistant looked at her with pity. In the end, he felt sorry for that fiery British condemned to that humiliating state of sedation to serve their purpose and after to be eliminated, as the rest. But it was just another casualty of war in the great cause of the Cabalt.

- How are you today?

- Everything was going well until you appeared. - Lara said.

Friedrich ignored the comment and examined the woman's joints. Her wrists and ankles were raw.

- My little one, I had told you not to twist in such way. Look what you've done to you. I suggested Dr. Boaz to loosen your straps, but you have to recognize, my little one, that you're _not_ being a model patient.

- Fuck you. I'm not _your little one_. Stop making that sympathetic role; you're as _demented_ as the rest of this crew.

The guard sighed.

- As I can see, even morphine would not stop your filthy mouth. If I were you, I would be less arrogant. You'll be with us for a long time. I supposed it would be... – and then he grimaced and said slowly - … about nine months.

Lara's response was to spit him in the face.

Friedrich never flinched. He was used to patients' rage and helplessness. He just cleaned his face and say with insolence:

- Well, OK, I admit I said something silly. Actually it won't be longer than three months, taking into account the rapid development of a Nephilim's fetus.

If glances could kill, Friedrich may have exploded into pieces right there, according to Lara's glance.

- I'll be back in a while. - he said after pricking her - then I hope you're calmer.

- Don't come back for me, bastard.

- Are you always the last one to talk?

- Of course.

When he returned, he found her as expected: she was in a deep state of slumber. Her skin was covered by a sweat film and she was staring blankly at the ceiling. After passing his hand over her eyes several times to make sure she made no movement, he untied her straps, freeing her arms and torso, and became ready to heal her joints' wounds.

He had just turned to the material's tray when a pair of flexible arms encircled his shoulders and pushed him back. Before he could realize what was happening, Friedrich was caught with a sharp scalpel touching his throat.

- Game over, you disgusting pig. - Lara whispered in his ear. - You'll help me to go out of here or I swear on your grave I'll cut your bloody throat.


	19. Chapter 19: The Supreme Temptation

**Chapter 19: The supreme temptation**

At that moment, Dr. Boaz asked to see Karel. She was extremely pale and was twisting her fingers.

- What do you want? - he said, looking up from Rouzic's notes about the Periapt's symbolism.

- The woman is undergoing treatment, as you required, Master. - she said - If we keep the dose during three days more we'll have her docile and completely at your mercy.

Karel looked at Giselle and smiled amused at seeing her crowded look and her clenched teeth.

- You can not hide your hatred and contempt for Lara Croft.

The scientist bit her lower lip.

- That woman is odious and infamous! She had spent two days tied up and under treatment, but still she dares to challenge me with her insolent mood.

- Well, be thankful since _at least_ she has not bit you. - Karel laugh.

- You can't deal with that bitch. She hates you, my Master, and she'll do anything to damage you.

The Nephilim shrugged and added:

- That will only make all this more entertaining. Maybe she's the most rebellious and spirited of all mortals, but she's still a mortal. She can do little against me.

- She killed the Sleeper!

- Therefore she must pay for that. And she will do in the most humbling and humiliating way for her.

- So that's all? - Giselle said, disappointed – Only revenge?

- Of course not. I am _not_ mortal, so revenge is a fault that lacks on me. There is a prophecy and she is the Amazonian. I didn't notice that when I chose her to recover the Paintings, but I found out that when she destroyed the _Cubiculum Nephili_.

And then he added with a grin:

- What happens to you is that you're jealous.

Dr. Boaz blushed to the ears, but her emphatic voice said:

- That slut does not deserve the honor you do to her! You never believed in prophecies. I beg you to give me a chance. I offer myself to take the place of that woman.

Karel raised his eyebrows. After spending thousands of years between them, learning their customs and attitudes, those damned mortals always managed to surprise him.

- Joachim! - she continued, haltingly - _I love you!_

He shook his head. Human passions! How much he missed the quiet and serene fellowship of his people, who were always above those flaws!

- Enough of this nonsense, Boaz. – he said coldly. - I belong to a race that is beyond your understanding. A race of angelic beings who would take a human for their pleasure, but never as a couple. If I accept your _romantic_ offer, you would be merely the instrument to carry out my purpose. Then I'll get ride of you, because you would be no more useful for me. Is that what you want?

He opened his palm and showed her the impressed Nephilim's symbol.

- Look at this, Giselle, and do not forget. You mean _nothing_ to me. Neither you nor humans. I don't need your experiments. _I don't need you_.

She looked down, deeply wounded, and nodded slowly. Then she said resignedly:

- You're like Eckhardt. He did not believe in me. I would have made you proud of me. I'm sorry I interrupted. I will not bother you anymore.

And she turned and left the room. Karel stood watching the door for a moment, then shrugged and continued to study the symbols.

(…)

Never, in his wildest dreams Friedrich had imagined her reaction.

- But ... – he stammered – You're sedated! It can't be, it's impossible...

- Do you think things have to be _possible_? They just have to be _true_! - cried Lara - Now do as I say if you don't want to end with a steel span up in the throat.

- You won't get very far. You are weak and unarmed. This is our base. What you want is madness.

Lara drove the tip of the scalpel with a determined gesture on the auxiliary's neck, bringing forth a stream of blood.

- Then I advise you _not_ to annoy this mad. – she spat between her teeth.

Neither took more to crumble the will of the warden. Shaking and crying inconsistencies, he just released Lara's belts. Then she made a dry twist, broke his neck and dropped him the ground.

She stopped to take a breath for a moment. When she tried to stand up, rising from the couch, her knees failed and she rolled down to the ground. She rose and leaned back against the wall.

That idiot was right. The drug was making effect. How could she escape in such state?

_I've gone too far. I will not give up now._

She crawled along the ground to reach the door, grabbed the knob and pushed herself to get up. Again, she buckled stiff legs, but managed to stay upright. She opened the door and peered into the hallway. There was nobody.

After baring the door, a weak and dizzy Lara ventured through the halls of the Laboratory, walking stumbled and clinging to the walls, with no other weapon than a scalpel.

(…)

Giselle came running to her office, entered and slammed the door. She was about to threw her sorrow against the furniture, but she stopped.

A man was sitting in her chair with her legs over the desk, stepping several analysis and valuable files. His brazen and insolent attitude further filled Giselle with fury.

- Who the hell are you?

- My name's Kurtis. – he replied dryly .- And apparently you are ... – he bowed, took a plaque on the table and read - ... _Dr. Boaz_. Damn that name.- he grunted softly.

- Kurtis Trent! - shouted the scientist - You killed my sister!

- If _that_ thing was your sister, then I did you a favor.

He rose and moved towards her.

- Where is she?

- Who?

- Don't piss me off, Dr. Barbie. Where do you have her?

- Go to hell.

- About that place you know more than me, witch.

Giselle had retreated to lean against the wall. She discreetly groped her hand into the pocket of her robe until she found what she wanted: a small syringe filled with morphine. She pulled the plug and jumped towards Kurtis, pointing directly towards his neck.

But she didn't prick him. She suddenly felt completely paralyzed, her arm held high and failed to move beyond there or back down.

- That was a fatal error on your part. - Kurtis said, and pulled the syringe from her hand - I knew you would try something stupid like that.

The scientist looked at him, terrified. She had heard about the Lux Veritatis' powers, but in her confusion she had forgotten about that. It was like if an invisible force held her back.

And suddenly it let her go.

The doctor stumbled and was about to gone down on the floor, but Kurtis grabbed her arm and raised her abruptly.

- Now take me to Lara. – he said, putting the barrel of the Boran in her neck - and you'll better not to try some other foolishness or I'll command you to make company to your monster-sister in the blink of an eye.

(…)

She heard footsteps in the corridor. Soon, Lara opened the first door she found (coincidentally it was not locked) and went inside. She was not strong enough to fight, and a scalpel was not the best defense.

But ... Where was she?

The room was completely dark, as most rooms in the Laboratory. But a strong stench filled the air, made of an acre and metal mixture. Something like blood… and formalin.

Lara groped in the dark, looking for a switch. But what she found was a foot.

She gasped and withdrew her hand. Then she touched it again. _Yes, it was a foot_. A small and frozen foot. There was a body.

She turned and looked for the wall. She stumbled several stretchers. Finally, she located the damn switch and flipped it. When she got adapted to that annoying light, she turned. What she saw chilled her.

Chilled as the bodies that filled the room. Men, women and children of all ages. Lying on stretchers. Dissected. Mutilated. Incomplete. Those who still had their eyes stared at the ceiling with indifference.

The smell of formaldehyde was unbearable. Lara moved vacillating between the stretchers, looking horrified that gore film scene.

A mortuary? No. They were ordinary people without any illness. That was an atrocity, comparable to the Nazi experiments.

- Don't worry .- Karel's voice whispered behind her back – It won't die anymore people. You'll pay for them all.

(…)

Lara whirled. Karel was there, silent and expectant. She hated his ability to appear and disappear at will without making a sound.

- Where do you think you were going?

- Away from you, hellish scum. - Lara said, brandishing the scalpel.

- If I were you I would think that. There is much I can offer to you.

- Yeah, right. Don't make me laugh.

He moved slowly towards her. Without even realizing it, Lara began to retreat, but keeping the scalpel at the ready.

- You disdained my offer very soon the first time. I've had hundreds of humans at my service and none of them are like you. Join to me and I'll put at your feet this life you despise. I will make you immortal and I will fill every wish of yours.

- My only wish is to get rid of you. - she said through clenched teeth.

- You have no choice, Lara. If you refuse to do this for good, you'll do this for hard. With the only difference that you will die when you were no longer useful for me.

At that time, Lara's back slammed into a desk full of laboratory equipment. Karel moved until his chest touched the tip of the scalpel.

- Go on. Stick it. You won't make anything to me. You could even to stab me and still you won't kill me.

Before she could even imagine the shock, Lara was found lying on the counter in the laboratory, with her wrist immobilized by Karel's fist, who was laughing sarcastically.

Weakened as she was, Lara realized that she was not a dangerous rival for him, and she barely had the strength to defend herself.

- Do you see? - he said - I said you that _fear will come_.

Lara still had a free hand. She grabbed a flask at the same moment that Karel's fingers forced her to drop the scalpel and slammed it against his face. The glass broke with the impact and cut his face from the temple to the corner of the lip. The Nephilim uttered a cry of rage as a wave of blood that seemed milk flood across his face. He snatched the broken flask from her hand before he stand up in all his pride. He put his hand on the cut and touched it. After three seconds, her cheek was intact.

They challenged each other with their glances for a moment. His was cold and cruel. Hers was defiantly. She was still half-lying on the counter and did not dare to move. As if, despite everything, he fascinated her.

- I thought you were smarter, Lara. - he continued, dropping the flask to the ground with a dismissive gesture - Apparently you have not understood very well who I am. Actually I'm the most ancient being on the planet. You could not resist the curiosity to see what I've seen. Studies, theories, encyclopedias, researches, religions are for me nothing but a herd of mankind's fantasies and speculations. When the Lord loaded his plagues on Egypt, I already existed. When Alexander came to India, I was there. When Columbus discovered America, I witnessed that. I have witnessed the entire history of this world, Lara. There is no question that I can not answer to you. There is no mystery that can't clear it for you. I could tell you many things and make you to see them as I saw...

The spell of his eyes was stunning. His voice was like poison. Lara felt that her head would explode. Her body was stiff and the strong smell of the room gave her gag.

- And if the humanity's mysteries seem insignificant to you - continued Karel - I can reveal you the divine mysteries. I am half angel. I have seen the face of Him whom you call God. I can tell you who He really is, apart from fantasies and religious dogmas. I can tell you what happens after death. Yes, I could restore life to who you want. I could give you everything you asked me and that would be only a fraction of what could give to you ... if you join me.

Lara closed her eyes, dizzy. That tension was beyond her strength. It would be so easy to give up, to surrender...

- I would accept your offer, Karel, if you wouldn't have demanded so much in return. - she opened her eyes again - What about all these wretches? This gruesome imitation of a Nazi experimental laboratory is also part of your offer?

- It was a whim of Eckhardt. I just never approve all of his methods, but he was useful to me. As I said, thanks to you this will not continue. You have prevented that.

- You'll sacrifice me on behalf of all who would have died soon. That's _really_ moving.

- It depends on you to be a sacrifice or a gift. I offer my hand again to you, Lara, but I also warn you that there will be no third time. If you refuse I'll abandon any qualms about the treatment that I'm going to give you.

And he held out a white hand, except for that perfect mark on the palm. A brand that seemed to be made with a hot poker. She had recognized the first time she saw it.

While she was tempted to accept, she also was aware of what she was about to do. She could not pretend. She could not lie. She had not _that_ choice.

Once again, Von Croy's corpse appeared before her eyes. She heard Luddick's screams. She saw Bouchard's lifeless body falling to the ground. She recalled Kristina Boaz's desperate glance as she fell inside the Pod. She remembered Muller's terror when she ate him. She reminded of Putai's anger at seeing her people massacred. And, over all that, she remembered Kurtis. Kurtis, who helped her to escape. Kurtis, who had stood between Karel and her. Kurtis, _who had risked his own life for saving her_.

And she knew if she joined to that abominable being, she would be betraying them all, good and evil, righteous and wicked. She would be immortal, but she would be empty. She would reach the highest knowledge of all visible and invisible things, but she would sell herself. She would surrender to the whims of the Nephilim in exchange for knowledge and power. She would save her life, but she would condemn the rest of the humanity.

- Karel, I... - her voice was shaky and tentative. He looked at her, pleased... but then Lara squinted and spat vigorously - I prefer death rather than put up you for all eternity!

With a wild cry, she sank her knee into Karel's stomach and pushed him back. She jumped from the counter and ran towards the door, but at the moment a cold hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her, causing her to fall to the ground. The only thing that she came to do was to give a slap to the switch and the light went off. In her fall she rolled over stretcher and the body lying on it fell on her as well.

Karel's fist, so cold that it almost burned, was still clutching Lara's bare foot. She kicked up out of the hand and crushed it against the floor of a stomp.

Once free, she crawled under the beds and came to the door. She slipped down the hall, thinking only of escape once and for all from that damn place, far from those bodies and far from Karel.


	20. Chapter 20: Luther Rouzic

**Chapter 20: Luther Rouzic**

- I expected that. – Kurtis sighed, rolling his eyes – She simply can't be still.

Giselle gave a cry of horror at seeing Friedick on the floor next to the empty bed.

- He's dead! – she moaned – She broke his neck!

- Looks like that. - corroborated Kurtis, pushing her forwards - and I do not even want to think what she must be doing now. Breaking something or cutting off all electricity, I'm sure.

Boaz reacted swiftly. She hit Kurtis in the face hard enough to disorient him. She slipped into the hallway and triggered an alarm button by a punch. Instantly, a loud siren started violent echoes on the bright surfaces of the enclosure.

She screamed when he pulled her from her hair.

- Well, Dr. Boaz, you have exhausted my patience. Enjoy your stay with your friend. - Kurtis hissed before throwing her the room and barred the heavy door. Now she could scream if she wanted. Those gates were identical to the Sanitarium: no sound escaped through them.

The alarm kept ringing. In a few moments the place would be full of mercenaries.

He walked quickly down the hall. On the verge of turning a corner, a slender figure fell upon him, brandishing a scalpel that went straight to his heart. Kurtis made a quick retreat and stopped his attacker, who turned out to be Lara.

- Hey, calm down, beastie! – he shouted.

She looked at him with wide opened eyes and dropped her arm.

- What are you doing here? – she gasped.

Kurtis snorted.

- _What am I doing here?_ Well, nothing serious. I just have come from Egypt, looking for you without rest during four days, and the only thing you can think of is to try to stab me and ask me _what I am doing here_.

She smiled, embarrassed.

- Well, I didn't expect to find you here. I'm used to take care of myself.

- I'm sure of _that_. - he said, looking her up and down - Are you okay?

The appearance of Lara was really unfortunate. Her green hospital robe was torn and splattered with blood. Her wrists and ankles were skinned, her cheekbone was swollen and her hair really matted. Not to mention the dark circles around her eyes, her gray, clammy skin and her blue lips. And that smell of formaldehyde.

- I'm perfectly. - she replied, raising proudly her chin.

- I see.- Kurtis said, unconvinced – We'll better to move quickly. That crazy-looking Barbie scientist has activated an alarm, as you can hear. We'll have soon Gunderson and company running around here.

Lara grabbed his arm.

- The Periapt! We can not leave without it!

- You think there's time for that? We would be _so_ lucky if we manage to get out of here!

- With you or alone, I'll go for the Periapt. - she insisted - If we lose it we lose everything.

She turned and started walking down the aisle with a determined step. Or at least that was her intention. But a few steps back her strength failed and she had to cling to the wall to avoid falling on the ground.

- You're _so_ stubborn, miss Croft. - Kurtis sighed, and gallantly offered her his arm - Come on, lean on me. We will make this together, since I'm _not_ going to lose you again.

(…)

Gunderson jumped from the couch when hearing the alarm. He left the hall, trying to ignore the pain in his just tapped hand, and met Karel, who came very calmly along the corridor. He didn't seem to care that his clothes were spattered with his white blood, even no wound was visible on him.

- It's a signal of Boaz – he said to the mercenary. - As expected, the Lux Veritatis has come for her.

- I will gather my men.

- Too late. He has called Munich's police. They are coming now.

_Trent… you damned bastard!_

- What should we do?

- Safeguard the Periapt and the Shards. Load them onto a truck and send them to our base in Moscow.

- What about those two?

- I'll take care of them ... in due time.

He disappeared like a thin wisp of vapor that vanishes into air.

(…)

- The Library! - Lara exclaimed, pointing forwards.

They were crossing a transition zone. The Lab's white tiles went on to become walls of old wallpaper. Guided by Kurtis, who already knew the place, Lara had assumed it would be there the place for valuable artifacts. She expected that assumptions to be right...

Then they heard someone scrambling papers in a nearby office.

Lara, still lead on her companion, searched his holster and pulled out quickly the Boran X.

- Hey! - he protested – What the…?

Lara silenced him by putting a finger on his lips. Then she winked at him and crept forwards, peering discreetly to the door frame.

There was a lanky, pale man who hastily gathered sheets. Lara immediately identified the notes she had prepared in Al-Fayoum. She didn't spent more time to decide.

The man was surprised to see that bruised woman pointing him with a gun.

- Miss Croft, I guess. – he said politely with a voice reminiscent of a snake hissing.

- Well guessed. - she replied – Whom do I have the honor to target?

- Luther Rouzic, librarian and keeper of the Cabal's archives. - he said - And I must say that since I checked your theories about the Periapt, I'm a big fan of yours.

- Well said. _My theories_. I demand you to bring me them back, along with the Periapt and the Shards. Make me lose my patience and I'll skip your brain's cover.

Rouzic smiled slightly.

- Come on, lady. You're so weak that you can barely hold that gun. I doubt you would even be able to pull the trigger.

- If she can't, which I doubt - Kurtis intervened, entering the room and standing next to Lara - I'll shoot you. Now do as she says.

The librarian's glass eye glittered at the light of the lamp.

- You're wasting your time – he hissed - I haven't those artifacts. They have been moved.

- Where are they moved?

- Perhaps to Moscow. I _really_ don't know, Lux Veritatis warrior, and I _simply_ do not care. Nothing of that matters now, because I've discovered the True Option.

He threw his head back and laughed out loud in a boorish way. Lara and Kurtis exchanged a look of concern.

- Oh, no, I haven't told Master Karel about that. – a bit of fun shone in his one eye - nor I will tell you. No, my friends, Luther Rouzic gives nothing for free. The knowledge is mine. It's so simple that seems incredible. Your brilliant research work has eased me, Amazonian. You're really brilliant, but you needed to put the final point.

As he spoke, he pulled a flask. Kurtis caught too late what he was about to do. He threw herself upon him and even tore the skin of the hands, but could not stop him before drinking from the flash.

- What's going on, man? - the librarian said with sarcasm - Do you also want some poison?

- Poison! - shouted Lara- The True Option! Why to take it to the grave?

Rouzic had been dropped because of the push, but he did no wake up again. His body began to quiver with spasms and convulsions. It was a fast-acting poison.

- For revenge. – he gurgled – The knowledge is mine. The key it's in my mind. I betray the Cabal with honor. They brought me out an eye. Now leave me, my destiny is death.

Kurtis grabbed him by the lapels and began to shake him like a rag doll:

- Then die if that's what you want! - he shouted in his face - Just tell us the damn key!

The librarian got his eye in white and foaming at the mouth, he began to shout like a madman:

- The True Option is the mother of all religions! The Supreme Command! Everything and the Nothing! It's so simple and so complex at once. Do you want to know what is it? Read, Amazonian! Read my writings! In them you'll find it!

His voice suddenly cut off, and after a couple of seizures, he remained motionless. Kurtis released him and stood up.

- An asshole less in the world. – he said solemnly, wiping the foam of his liner.

Lara was already on the desk, picking up speedily all the papers he had on it. She rolled and stuffed them in a cardboard cylinder used to store maps.

- He wouldn't have told us anyway. - she said – It would have been too easy.

Suddenly he heard a distant rumble in some section. Then shots and hurried footsteps.

- Come on, Lara.- Kurtis said – They're already on here.

She hung up the cylinder to the back and left hurriedly.

- What is that fuss?

- I called the police.

- You're crazy!

- Maybe, but when they see the macabre exhibition set by these Cabal's motherfuckers, they will forget about you for a while. Surely the Czechoslovak police have already discovered the Strahov and will be aware of this issue.

Reluctantly, Lara had to admit he was right.

The Cabalistic base was in chaos. Police and Gunderson's men ran through the halls shooting up. Laboratory's rooms were now open, and patients who could still walk were fleeing or being released.

Lara and Kurtis avoided that _pandemonium_ and tried to seek a less crowded way of exit.

(…)

At the same time, another person tried to escape without being seen.

Giselle was running through the corridors as if chased by the devil. She had seen police officers and she didn't need to be a genius to deduce that if they found her, both her brilliant career and her life would be truncated.

A single idea was on her head: she had to rescue _something_ before fleeing. Something such important for her that under any circumstances should arrive at police's hands.

She reached a door and used feverishly her identification card. Then she entered.

That section was called The Incubator. There Giselle had raised some specimens, crude attempts of anthropomorphic _Nephilia_, very different from her sister Kristina's Proto, who had been a zoomorphic hybrid.

Unfortunately, none of those specimens was alive at that moment. By Karel's desire, every one of them had been destroyed.

All them, except one.

Dr. Boaz opened a cryogenic tank and took out a small test tube with a bluish liquid. She carefully placed it in a small fridge and hung it from her shoulder.

- Come on, my little one. - she murmured fondly.

And she left the Incubator at full speed.

(…)

Lara tried to push the door, but it was firmly closed. She took a deep breath and prepared to open it with a kick, but before her foot came to knock on the wood, it collapsed on its own.

She turned her sharply and glared accusingly at Kurtis, who was about to drop his still extended hand.

- You're a killjoy. – she snapped.

- Do you never let anyone to help you?

The door led into a lorry park, similar to that Lara had crossed to enter the Strahov in Prague. There were, however, several empty places, and the great door opened out to the cold streets proclaimed that a truck had just left.

- Well, let's see the one that is so eager to help. – she said turning towards Kurtis- Is there any way to find out _what _truck carries the Periapt and _where_ it is now more or less?

- Of course.- he said, amazed at the sagacity of his companion – But… I'm not used to doing this in public.

- Ooooh. - she said, rolling her eyes. Then she turned smartly exaggerated and showed him his back - In this case I'll not interfere in your privacy, Mr. Trent.

- Bah, forget about that. - he growled. Then he stretched his arms and closed his eyes.

Lara turned slowly and watched him. Immediately she found that, somehow, _he was no longer there_, although she could see him with her own eyes, still and breathing slowly. The most surprising thing is that his body seemed to be enveloped in an orange glow aura as if he divested a very thin shining, almost indiscernible for the eyes.

She took a step towards him and extended a hand. Her surprise increased to notice strange warmth in her fingers. That seemed incredible, but Kurtis gave off light and heat, like a star. The heat was more intense than the dim light.

And then Lara remembered the contrast. Karel. The Nephilim transmitted cold. When she had him close, almost made her chattering her teeth. His aura was icy.

_Kurtis was fire. Karel was ice._

Suddenly, he staggered as if he had been beaten. Instinctively, Lara caught him, but she had to drop him instantly. She screamed and shook his hand.

- You're burning! – she said, astonished.

He took a few moments to place himself. He shook his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

- Don't touch me! - he said - Never put a hand on me when _I'm out_!

She shook her hand until she was relieved from the burning sensation and said:

- Ok. I guess you don't want to answer any questions that haunt me on my head now, right?

- It's hard to deny anything to you, Lara.

Lara shook her head and looked at him with a mischievous smile.

- Nothing, nothing?

- Absolutely nothing.

- Then you won't refuse to come out of this horrible place. Let's go in that truck I guess you have just seen and we'll recover the Periapt. Then there will be time for questions.

(…)

- _Mein Gott_! - said one of the policemen, a German officer – They're quartered!

Then the poor man turned and stumbled out of the mortuary, he fell forward and began to vomit. Another one fainted as a result of formalin's smell. And several of them had experienced nervous breakdowns, even though they were well prepared men for their profession.

After several shootings, the police had been rounding up and arresting the mercenaries. But there was no trace of Karel, Gunderson or even Giselle. They found, however, Friedick and Luther Rouzic's corpses. They also arrested the other staff and had taken the unfortunate "patients" to a real hospital.

Some of them would die soon. Others would never recover from the horrific aftermath of experiments and operations. Twenty would not awake from the comatose state. The rest could not even walk again.

One officer, a veteran who had been son of German Jews, said:

- If my father were still alive, he would define this monstrosity with a single word: _Auschwitz_.

The inspector Kohler nodded, sorry.

- You have to get in touch with the Czech and French police brigades. This is related to _The Monstrum_ and Strahov's case in Prague.

The veteran added:

- Lara Croft, with no doubt. We found her tracks in the neck of the Laboratory assistant's corpse.

- I'm afraid, Ottonegger, that you're accusing the wrong person.

- Inspector?

- Lara Croft is not _The Monstrum_. She can't be. This newly-defined Nazi massacre is not the work of one person. At least not by someone like her. I think that the responsible for this atrocity is someone we have not identified yet.


	21. Chapter 21: Lara's defense

**Chapter 21: Lara's Defense**

On the highway out of Munich, a green truck covered with an orange canvas was traveling at full speed in the middle of flow and abundant traffic.

Within walking distance and just as quickly circulated a brand new motorcycle, driven by a man of austere countenance. Behind him and subject to his waist was a woman who attracted attention as a blood stain on the snow, since she had unmistakable signs of having been abused and was wearing hospital robe.

Unfortunately, they had no time to worry about those details.

- Come all you can next to the truck - she cried at Kurtis' ear to be heard over traffic noise - I just saw a loose strap on the canvas roof. I'll climb through it.

- Are you sure you can do it?

- I can. - Lara gritted her teeth - I _must_ can.

Fortunately, she felt much better now. Her body's numbness had disappeared completely and the pounding headache she had referred at least a little. What was about to do was difficult and risky, and it would require to have full skills, but she would have to settle for what she had.

Kurtis placed the motorbike beside the truck, coming dangerously close to the huge wheels. Luckily, the co-pilot was distracted and didn't seem to notice him.

Hanging over the side of the truck it was a belt that had come loose from the canvas that covered the top of the truck. Lara reached out and grabbed it. After confirming it was well fixed and safe, grabbed it with the other hand, jumped off the bike and planted her feet on the truck's lateral surface.

A violent gust of air almost made her fall, but she clung tightly to the strap. Another gust of wind rid completely her braid. The long copper hair floated around her face like a cloud, which could look very beautiful but it supposed a real discomfort. She ended climbing up the belt and reached the truck's roof. Looking around, she saw several drivers looking at her speechless. They must be thinking if _that_ was a joke.

Crawling with prudent slowness, she searched the place where the canvas had risen to loosen the belt and climbed into the truck.

She was surprised not to find anyone. She had been minded that she would have to fight, but there only were a few boxes scattered in the darkened compartment. She revised all at breakneck speed.

- _Eureka!_ – she uttered when uncovering one. There was the Periapt, and beside it a small leather case with the Shards finely arranged.

Having nothing better she used an old cloth to wrap the crystal ball and the three daggers. She tied this bundle to her back. Then she went back outside and made a sign to Kurtis, who came back again to the side of the truck. She slipped and began to sag using the strap loose.

And then the co-pilot saw her. Through the mass of hair that fluttered in front of her face, Lara saw how he pulled out a revolver and pointed towards her. She drove back to dodge the shot. However the bullet passed next to her shoulder whistling.

Kurtis swerved the motorbike and approached to the truck's cabin. Before the co-pilot could fire again, he pulled the Boran and pointed directly to his head.

The truck driver almost lost control of the vehicle when his partner fell upon him with a bullet in his forehead. He lacked on time to grasp the walkie-talkie and shout:

- Mr. Gunderson! They're stealing the Periapt!

At the time Lara had dropped back again on the bike. She almost lost her balance and was about to fall to the hard pavement, but finally she managed to hold on to Kurtis.

- Good work, Lara. - he congratulated.

- Thank… you - she gasped, wiping the sweat from her forehead – It hasn't been... anything.

- Uh-oh. We have a visit. Guess who.

Through the rearview mirror, Lara saw another intimidating car approaching to them.

- _Shit_. – she said – That damned Gunderson again.

Kurtis accelerated and glanced in the mirror.

- Is it my imagination or he's taking a rocket launcher?

Lara turned her head. Despite her long hair was obstructing her view, she would have to be blind for not to see the big bully exiting half-length across sunroof of the vehicle and carrying on the shoulder a heavy metal cylinder.

- Confirmed! - she said - But he just _can't_ be crazy enough to fire a rocket in the middle of the traffic at the exit of a capital!

- Believe me, he's crazy enough. - Kurtis said, stepping on the gas- Hold on, miss Croft. It's time to move.

Gunderson's vehicle launched itself behind them in pursuit. The thug grabbed the sides of the window and grabbed the rocket launcher decisively, gritting his teeth as he felt the pangs of the stumps of his mutilated hand.

It was difficult to travel on the crowded highway, so Kurtis began to dodge the vehicles, advancing and circulating in zig-zag at breakneck speed, prompting a barrage of whistles, shouts, insults, oaths, curses and fists by the other drivers.

Lara, who still had the strength to implement her sarcastic charm, began sending kisses and greetings to the outraged citizens, dedicating them her most charming smile.

- Yes, yes. Smile, you slut. - grunted Gunderson - Now we'll see what do you do with this.

And he fired.

- Kurtis! - Lara screamed - Rocket at six o'clock!

He swerved to the right. The bullet whizzed past them and hit a bus, which exploded causing a huge fireball.

On the highway there was chaos. Braking, skids, collisions, overturning... a chain reaction that blocked this stretch of the highway and formed a cap broken off vehicles and tight.

The bike was launched into the burning bus. Lara gave a cry of despair and buried her face in Kurtis's back. No way out: to die burnt or to die crushed by piles of junk. What would come first?

At that time she evoked Werner's younger face, many years ago. She recalled the time she was about to fall into a trap of spikes and he saved her from that and from a huge stone that was nearly crushing on her. She recalled his sarcastic voice, a tone she had learned very well.

_Where are you going, girl? Take some order. One way of dying after another, without crowding them, please._

But that time, as now, she did not die of any of the two forms.

Suddenly, she felt as if they were _rising_ in the air. She felt an unbearable heat around the body and, seconds later, a blast of cold air.

She opened her eyes. The motorbike continued its career in the traffic, but the accident had been left behind them.

- What the… _what have you done?_ – she said, looking back - How could you pass over the fire?

Kurtis winked an eye through the rearview mirror.

- I'm a Lux Veritatis, do you remember?

(…)

- Inspector Köhler, aren't you? Nice to meet you. I'm agent Dupuis, Department of Homicides in Paris. I come as a representative of the French police.

Köhler got up and shook hands with the agent. Then he looked at his companion.

- He's inspector Radetz. He represents the Czech police.

- Thanks, Dupuis. - said the other - I come to hear what have you to say about this horrific case. As you know, just a month ago we found authentic underground horrors in a place known as the Strahov, in Prague. Everything seems to be related to the terrible events that occurred in Paris: the murder of several victims, including the renowned archaeologist Werner Von Croy. I hope you have found something worth finding.

Without deigning to reply, he led the German inspector through the entire Cabalistic base. His companions were astonished and horrified by visiting the Laboratory.

- This is horrendous. - Radetz said. - There was something identical in Prague, who built it gave it the name of Sanitarium. I think we're on the trail of an ancient sect known as the Cabal.

- Let's stop telling nonsense.- said Dupuis - We found evidences of Lara Croft's presence in the base of Prague and in the Louvre. And she's not alone. It seems that she is accompanied by a not yet identified man. We must stop this brutal killer before she commits another atrocity.

Köhler coughed and said:

- Before you continue with your guess, you should listen to three people who say they have seen and spoken to the fugitive a few days ago.

Dupuis and Radetz looked each other astonished and followed the German hastily through the halls. They came to a room equipped as a receiver. The three people were there, and they stood in salute as entered the three policemen.

They were escorted by other policemen, but none of them seemed dangerous. One of them was a man with glasses and an air of superiority. The other one was a rather plump and with tanned skin, and the third was a girl of Oriental features and sad eyes.

- So you have collaborated with the suspect... - Radetz started to say, but immediately the man with glasses interrupted him and said boldly:

- Stop making false accusations, agent. I'm Professor Vladimir Ivanoff. This is the renowned Egyptologist Jean Yves and she is miss Selma Al-Jazeera, one of the best archaeologists of the time. We have come to speak on behalf of Lara Croft.


	22. Chapter 22: The Dreamcatcher

**Chapter 22: The Dreamcatcher**

Somewhere on the border between Switzerland and Germany, a couple of hapless fugitives sought (not finding) the way out of there without attracting the attention of the authorities, since Lara was still the most wanted person in Europe.

Nowhere in the continent would be worth to hide them from the police. Nowhere in the world would be worth to hide them _from Karel_. It was the ideal occasion for the earth to open beneath their feet and swallow them. Which did not happen, of course.

That afternoon Kurtis told her all that had happened since Gunderson kidnapped her from Egypt. He had tried to sidestep the issue, but finally he had to reveal the slaughter. Upon learning of the death of Putai, Lara fell into a prolonged and painful silence.

The silence lasted for the next hour drive. After a while, exhausted, she laid her head on Kurtis' back and closed her eyes.

She felt a silent rage that was consuming her on the inside. Putai was more beloved for her than a sister, despite racial and cultural barriers that separated them; Putai, who had saved her from dying slowly under the pyramid... Putai had been gunned down before the hot sun of Egypt. The shaman had restored her to life, and she had compensated her by bringing death to her and her people. The same people who had helped her when she had not known where to go.

- Lara, – Kurtis gasped - if you keep squeezing me like _that _you'll crush my ribs.

- Sorry. - excused her, and loosened her arms. She was so absorbed in her misery that hadn't been aware oh that she was embracing him too much.

Kurtis did not attempt to give any word of comfort to her. He knew that most of the times a person wants solitude in those cases. But at that moment he decided to intervene:

- Believe me, Lara, _I know_ how it feels when you're responsible for the death of a beloved person. But someone taught me that the dead don' want tears or regrets, but that you turn your debt with them. I promised Putai two things. I've already got the first one. The second one is only a matter of time.

Lara nodded. She already knew what Putai had requested in the last moments of her life. But she could not but feeling angry.

- Putai and her people have died for _nothing_. – she said bitterly – At the end that bastard of Gunderson caught me. If I had given up when I had the opportunity...

- Gunderson would have killed them the same. Lara, he was once my friend and I worked for him for a long time. He's an unmitigated liar. After that he would have humiliated you until you regretted your stupidity. It's better this way. Stop tormenting yourself for your friend's death. She is now in peace, while you and me are still standing among all this mess.

He added quickly:

- Had I said to you that the Golden Seal has changed again?

Lara's head went off the back of Kurtis and said irritably:

- Of course not! What about the unusual honor of this revelation?

- It changed when I just got to Munich. - he said, ignoring the sarcasm of his partner - As I see you're tired, I'll prevent you from troubling: the map shows us Meteora's valley in Thessaly, a province of Greece.

She was already doing calculations.

- Meteora ... I got it! Meteora's monasteries. There are located over hundreds of meters high on lonely crags. In all likelihood, that's our next destination.

- But first...

Kurtis turned left on his motorbike and parked into what appeared to be...

- A roadside motel? - Lara said very little excited.

- Sorry, _milady_, but right now I don't have the Ritz's address. - He said with sarcasm – Other time will be.

That was the first time he called her milady. She never would forget about that.

The truth is that Lara was so struck down that she could have slept on a stone.

- Actually, the less time we are here the better. And you would not hurt to tidy up a bit.

Lara winced and rubbed her hand over her tangled hair.

- So awful I seem now?

- Well ... if you want my humble opinion, you _never_ seem awful. But I prefer that no one will think badly of me.

And he adjusted the rearview mirror to make her look herself.

Lara almost scared at seeing her own face. She looked like a dead and the swollen cheekbone was worse than ever. If to that were added her torn clothes and her matted hair, Lara had the typical appearance of battered women.

Kurtis's assumptions were correct. Lara had to rush to get into the shower, because the customers found in the motel were shocked to see her and began to throw poisoned glances to Kurtis, convinced that he was a scoundrel who had beaten his girlfriend.

Once cleaned, Lara healed and bandaged her wrists and ankles. Then she spread an ointment on the bruised cheek. Actually, that was _nothing_ compared with what had received Gunderson. After changing her clothes, she left the bathroom and fell full length on the narrow single bed room.

Kurtis, silent as usual, was sitting on the floor by the door, sharpening Chirugai's blades as if nothing else has to do with him.

- Are you going to stay there all night? - Lara asked sleepily.

- I would take a shower, but I 'm not sure of being able to do it without some explorer spying me behind the door.

Lara stuck her tongue out in reply. Within minutes she was asleep.

Kurtis remained sat in the dark. His purpose was to stay close to Lara only for if some _angelic_ creature dared to appear. But he was so exhausted that he soon fell asleep.

(…)

The next morning, Kurtis awoke feeling as he had been trampled by a tractor. He stretched, and noticing painful stitches in the back, muttered:

- I hate this job. All the hassles and none of the perks.

- Really? - said a soft voice.

He opened his eyes. Lara, dressed in jeans and jacket, was lying face down with elbows on the bed and rested her chin in the palm of one hand while the other was twisting her braid.

- Good morning, my faithful sentinel. – she added with a sly smile.

Of course, sometimes it was worth waking up so pained if that was accompanied by so charming vision.

Lara dropped her sight again and concentrated on the papers. Of course,she had not been idle, since she was studying the Periapt's symbols again. She was courageous and consistent.

- You must be so bored at seeing symbols. - Kurtis said, rising and stretching again.

- Never. This is my job, and there is nothing more fascinating than a riddle that I can not solve. I'll have to start discarding symbols. Rouzic assumed, like me, that the Periapt is older than all the religions represented in it.

- That makes no sense. How it's possible that appeared symbols of religions that were born centuries after?

- That's what I'm trying to figure out. But there is no doubt that it predates all religions. Maybe someone had gradually carved the symbols... or these may be added alone. Everything is possible in a device that does not break.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door:

- Open! - cried a commanding voice.

They froze. They exchanged an alarmed glance. One thought crossed their minds at the time: they had found them. They had fallen into the hands of the police.

Lara jumped out of bed as driven by a spring. She looked around for an escape route. That was the window, which fortunately was not very high.

Kurtis threw her the cardboard cylinder with the documents and the bundle with the Periapt and the Shards. Lara brought it all to the back and grabbed the window frame when the door began to shake for several and repeated blows.

She jumped by the time it opened.

Upon landing on the ground, Lara looked up and whispered:

- Kurtis!

But he neither replied nor jumped after her.

She heard that a person had entered the room.

_Kaliméra_, Mr. Trent. – an unfamiliar voice said, speaking in Greek – I have been searching you for a long time.

(…)

Kurtis hoisted the gun which was pointing directly at the face of the individual who did not seem the least altered.

He was not a cop, that was clear. He was a young man of pale complexion and dark eyes. He was wearing a black hooded robe which gave him an air of austerity.

- You can drop the weapon - the man said calmly - I will hurt neither you nor your elusive friend.

- What says to you that I can understand what you're saying?

- You know how to speak Greek perfectly, Mr. Trent. Your father taught you well. And you had a chance to prove that when you faced Karolis on the boat.

- How do you know so much about me? - Kurtis replied, now speaking in Greek.

- I know a lot about you. - replied the other, and then he pulled out a small object from his pocket and dangled it before his eyes - Do you recognize this?

Kurtis saw something he recognized right away, but whose presence there he could not understand. It was a small Indian amulet which belonged to Navajo tribe. He knew perfectly the smoothness of its wooden hoop, the intertwined threads and the softness of its tiny feathers hanging from the amulet. He knew every nook and cranny of that object because he had entertained himself often with it, for many years during his childhood...

(…)

_Marie Cornel threw her beautiful black hair away from her shoulders and lifted from her neck the small pendant. Then she playfully swung it before the eyes of her son._

_- What do you see, Kurtis?_

_The boy blinked and reached out to touch the beads and feathers hanging from the amulet._

_- I see a spider web._

_Marie laughed and her laughter was like a fountain. Whatever he said, she always laughed. Neither uncertainty nor the difficult situation they were forced to live managed to erase from her cheerful face that never-ending smile._

_- It's an amulet of protection. A dreamcatcher. My people always had hanged it over their babies' cribs to filter their dreams. That kept them protected from evil spirits, because the dreamcatcher only allows what is good._

_She put it in her son's hands._

_- This was hanging over your crib, and before it was on mine, and your grandfather's. Unfortunately, it can only protect you while you're child._

_- Is it true that it filters dreams? - he said, hanging it from his neck._

_The mother smiled again. Her lively black eyes, so full of life and contrasts, sparkled like two stars._

_- Nothing has power for itself, Kurtis. We are the ones who give power to things._

_- So ... why do we need amulets?_

_- Someday you'll understand._

(…)

His arm fell on his side unconsciously. Suddenly, the Boran seemed heavier than normal. He was confused, he suddenly felt like a child again.

- Where from did you get that? – he demanded more than asked, her voice trembling with emotion.

The man was still swinging the dreamcatcher.

- She gave it to us. Not willingly, of course...

- If you've dared to hurt her... - Kurtis muttered through clenched teeth.

Maybe for what he suggested or because it sounded so threatening, the man stepped back and shook his head, horrified.

- By God's sake, no! We do not hurt anyone, that's against our faith. But she assured us that if you saw it, you'll agree to rely on us. She hurt to let it go, but of course, it was our only guarantee.

Kurtis's ears were ringing. None of that made sense for him. Everything was madness.

- Give it to me! - he said abruptly, reaching out – It's not yours.

The man then gave it back quickly, as if he was afraid that Kurtis may bite him. He quickly kept it in his pocket.

- Now you'll rely on us?

- Maybe if I know who you are.

- We are the ones who saved your life.

- Do you think that I have not noticed _that_? Start by telling me who the hell are you.

This guy had broken into the room like a police officer, but now he was not so sure of himself. He swallowed hard and said as firmly as he could:

I come as a representative of Minos Axiotis, the abbot of Ayios Stephanos' monastery at Meteora.

(…)

Lara wondered what to do. She has both documents and artifacts. She could escape ... But would she be so petty as to leave in the lurch he who had crossed the sea to find her?

She was hesitant to go back into the motel, when Kurtis exited followed out by a silent hooded shadow. Lara approached with caution, without losing sight of the stranger.

- We are going to Greece. - Kurtis said.

- Who is this? - she said, pointing boldly the monk.

He nodded in greeting and said smiling:

- I am the brother Nikos Kavafis. The abbot has sent me to lead us to Meteora.

- Why should we trust in him? - Lara said, looking at Kurtis.

- I'll explain to you later. - he whispered.

Lara turned to the monk. Kurtis may have his reasons, but she would not be so easily placated.

- We are near the border of two countries at the heart of Europe. It's difficult for us to reach Greece without being found by some of our pursuers, including the police or a Nephilim. Is not that enough?

The monk did not seem to grasp her sarcasm and he said, nodding gravely:

- Indeed, your situation is untenable.

- Then explain to me how a hooded monk will take us to Greece without raising suspicion.

Nikos did not answer. He began to walk quietly, and they had no choice but to follow him. They left a little of the place, and when Lara was already thinking of giving him a few shakes, he pointed ahead:

- This banality of modern times will take us to Athens. From there, the rest will be done by road.

Lara and Kurtis looked at each other, stunned. There, on the esplanade, there was a waiting helicopter. What kind of monastic order was provided with vehicles like this?

- Do not worry. - Nikos smiled, recovering his confidence - All concerns will be solved in due time. The abbot Minos is eager to meet you.


	23. Chapter 23: The Seal's story

Chapter 23: The Seal's story

The first time a traveler contemplates the mystical valley of Meteora, is immediately seduced by its grandeur and solemnity. It can already be seen from the Thessalian town of Kalambaka, beyond a vertical ascent, culminating in a belt of rocks of mysterious gray cylindrical shapes.

In the center of the valley, on a very high cliff walls and smooth and vertical isolated, stands the monastery of Ayios Stefanos. As an altar kneeling on the hard rock, its seeming inaccessibility may impatient a novice adventurer, and dazzled Lara and Kurtis, who observed the silent place under the scorching sun of the purest Mediterranean climate.

- How are we supposed to climb up there? - he said.

- There are ten kilometers from the town of Kastraki, where we are now, to the monastery. - said Nikos - The only way to get it is going down to the valley floor and climb the rock. Our brothers built the monastery in 1138 with the aim of shutting out the world, an aspect that, as you see, remains today.

The monk walked briskly, gliding gently over the rocks. Lara started to follow him, but Kurtis stayed where he was, shielding his eyes with his hand and looking with despair the rugged enclave.

- Damned monks. – he sighed with exhaustion -. Apparently they could not have placed the monastery into a more complicated way.

Lara turned towards him, glanced over her sunglasses and smiled.

- Just curious, Mr. Trent. Where is your sense of adventure?

And she turned and started to descend to the valley, leaping nimbly from rock to rock like a graceful and elegant antelope.

The valley had more than twenty monasteries, most of which had become museums were tourists could visit through hanging bridges suspended between rock and rock. Only two monasteries were still places of meditation and prayer: Ayia Triada and Ayios Stefanos. They were not for visit and therefore there was no suspended bridges allowing access. In theory, nobody went to and nobody came from them.

When arriving at the foot of the towering rock, Nikos put his hands cupped and issued a signature call, which started echoes in the quiet valley. A few minutes later a pouch made of strong networks tied to a rope was descending towards him.

- Wow. - Lara said - I thought I had seen it all with the helicopter, but no doubt _this_ is high technology itself.

Nikos gave her an offended glance, but she smiled cheekily. The monk went into the net as he said:

- This is the elevator for monks. It can only be used by the brethren of the monastery. As foreign visitors, you have to climb.

And he pointed to some rude steps cut into the almost vertical wall. Then the rope tightened and Nikos began to rise within the network.

- Wonderful.- Kurtis muttered, watching as they ran up. - The next time you _won't_ make fun on their lift.

- At _that_ speed we'll arrive before him. - she said - There are about ten minutes of climbing, more or less.

The upbeat tone of her voice exasperated Kurtis.

- Should I suppose that your feet are not hurting?

- What a whiny. - she said, narrowing his eyes - Come on, Kurtis, show me the legionary who lives in you.

He grumbled under his breath, and began climbing the wall. Lara followed him, still smiling.

(…)

A hastily heart was pounding on Minos Axiotis' chest when Nikos solemnly bowed to him and reported the presence of the newcomers. He left the monastery to receive them, surrounded by some of the younger brothers, and observed in silence how Kurtis saved the last step.

Because of the ascension he had hurt his hands' palms which were bleeding. He looked at his wounds and, without giving more importance to them, he wiped his hands on his pants.

_Definitely, there's no denying he's Konstantin's son_, Minos thought at feeling those blue eyes piercing through him. Years ago his father had gone there and had looked at him with the same challenge and distrust, without uttering a word.

Behind him came a woman who had never seen, but whom immediately recognized. She was graceful and slender, lithe and lovely. She lifted her chin and said:

- I'm Lara Croft.

On the haughty tone with which she said that, she seemed to have said:_ I'm Helen of Troy _or _I'm Sheba's Queen_.

Minos stepped forward and smiled:

- Nice to finally meet you, miss Croft.

She looked around his black robe and the large crucifix that hung from his neck. She recognized his voice at first, but she took time to examine the abbot before answering:

- So you're Minos Axiotis, our phone guide – she said with sarcasm - I never would have suspected that.

- Times are strange, miss Croft. Our brotherhood has been forced to break the rigid closure and take advantage of extraordinary resources and situations.

Then he looked at Kurtis, who had not moved an inch and remained still without saying a word.

- I'm really pleased to see you so recovered, Mr. Trent.

- I remember you. - he said then - You were at the Strahov. You came surrounded by armed monks.

Minos nodded.

- There are causes that are worth fighting and risking.

As he spoke, a monk came from the group and presented a bundle of black clothes to Lara, which she accepted without questioning. She had visited hundreds of sacred places throughout the world and so she had learned that, regardless of the religion they were from, women were not welcomed unless they follow strict rules of dressing. In Meteora, any woman who would venture into that silent world of praying men was required to wear ankle length skirts and long sleeves, all black, to stifle any hint of striking and beautiful womanhood, forbidden in the monastery.

But, as they could see when Lara came back dressed in those robes, no austere clothing managed to drown out that charming aura that seemed to envelop her.

- Welcome to Meteora .- Minos said then - This is where your journey ends.

- How do you know...? - Lara began, but then the abbot stopped her and turned to Kurtis:

- If I'm right, the Golden Seal has revealed the latest location. He has already served to its purpose and the spirit that guided it has vanished.

Kurtis looked then at the ring, and after a moment of stupor, showed it to Lara.

There was no longer any map on the golden surface. I had disappeared, giving way to an empty space, a polished square without any sign or imperfection.

(…)

The monastery was a corner for silence and meditation. In that place only the songs of the monks were heard and also the whispering rush of his sandals on the floor and the whistling of the wind. No other sound came to this haven of peace and quiet, even when other monasteries were packed for sightseeing. Nothing disturbed the daily routine in Ayios Stefanos.

Once the reception ended, Lara and Kurtis were left alone with the abbot. He led them to the cloister and began responding to the barrage of questions which Lara harassed him while Kurtis, leaning against the wall, continued with his traditional silence.

- You seem to know much about the Golden Seal and the Periapt's symbols. - she said - More than what the Lux Veritatis and Karel himself knew. You seem a community of Orthodox monks, but you're more than that. Am I wrong?

- Only partly. - Minos said with the utmost courtesy - In fact, we're monks at God's service, and as such we were born. But we are also keepers. At first we had little or nothing to do with the Lux Veritatis, but with time, circumstances made us allies.

- Guardians of what?

- Of the Angels' Oracle.

Lara raised an eyebrow, as if asking for further explanation. The abbot pointed to the cardboard cylinder that hung over her shoulder and said:

- You have shown me hundreds of papers, written by your own hand and also by the Cabal's librarian. The studies are brilliant, worthy of skilled people like you. But in ancient times, the world did not have archaeologists or specialists in deciphering the sacred mysteries' symbols. We, as monks of Meteora, are the guardians of a stronger and older power than human mind: we are the guardians of those who know the True Option.

Lara stood up for a moment and then started walking around the narrow cloister, with her skirt fluttering around her ankles.

- Are you telling me that you always have known what the True Option was? That what _all_ we have done have been for _nothing_?

- Oh, no, of course not. No mortal or semi-mortal, as the case of the creature that haunts you, knows the True Option. Only the Angels' Oracle knows that. We, as monks of Meteora, guard the entrance to the Oracle.

Lara stopped for a while, put the hands on her hips and said with narrowed eyes.

- No matter. I've been kidnapped and treated like a laboratory guinea pig. People so beloved for me have been killed. I've put other people in danger only with the fact of having been near them. I've squeezed my brain to burst studying long lists of endless symbols, and almost killed myself in a traffic accident to recover these papers... and now an old fat abbot tells me that only consulting an oracle I may have discovered the simple truth without going through _all_ this.

Kurtis shook his head. He disapproved Lara's attitude, but she just ignore him and stick an angry glance on Minos, who held it without flinching.

- The Oracle won't disclose to you the True Option. Its task is not to disclose, but to host it. You're an explorer. As I have understood, discovering passwords or using devices that should be inserted in holes or keys to open doors is your work. The True Option is a key, a symbol, call it whatever you want, but only knowing it simply changes nothing. It is to the Oracle whom you should reveal the key, and then you must choose between Light and Darkness, in this case, between Mr. Trent and the demon lord who calls himself Karel.

Minos spoke with patience and serenity, an attitude that contrasted with that of Lara, who seemed possessed by a demon herself.

- _Who_ or _what_ is the Oracle? - she asked, crossing her arms.

- Not a person, not a thing. It's just the Oracle. It is here; beneath the ground we stand now, in the crypt, where we bury our dead. It was already here when the monastery was built.

- And you have spoken with the Oracle?

The abbot shook his head.

- We are not worthy. There is only one person in the entire Earth that, by divine will, can invoke the Oracle: the Amazonian.

She frowned and sat back, crossing her legs.

- So it's me. - she said. And suddenly she uncrossed her legs and kicked on the floor - Damn! I bet that bastard of Karel knows that! That's because he let us to escape from Munich. _I'm again where he wants and doing what he wants!_

- Of course he does. He has always known what he does. It is not easy to escape from the designs of a Nephilim, and their thoughts and attitudes are both strange as incomprehensible to us. - Minos said - But be aware that it's you who has the last word. Neither Mr. Trent nor Karel can do more for themselves. It's now that you have their lives in your hands.

Lara looked at Kurtis, but he swerved the gaze, as if all that had nothing to do with him. She thought in silence while nervously twisted her braid. Then she got out of the blue and said solemnly:

- I need to be alone for a while.

She took the papers and left the cloister. Minos watched her walk away.

- Do you think she will find the key?

Kurtis took a few seconds to respond.

- Of course yes. She's the smartest person I ever met, and also the most stubborn. I do not think that anyone can be compared with her.- he added quietly, more to himself than to the abbot.

Minos sat quietly in one of the stone benches and watched the rectangle of sky that revealed the small cloister.

- I guess you will have your own questions. But you're pretty quiet. Your silence has been uneasy to me.

- I _never_ open my mouth if I have nothing to say. In general, Lara has enough slick to speak for both.

- That's strange. - said the abbot, still staring at the sky – You know each other from just a month ago, but it seems as if you've spent many years together.

Kurtis gave him a glance that Minos could not decipher. He thought he would say something about it, but this is what he said:

- How do you know so much about me, my father and my life? I'm not very popular among mortals. – he said wryly.

Minos crossed his fingers and his aging face again returned to look at the sky as he said:

- I met your father many years ago. I was still young, and it took no much more time since I reach abbot's role. He was a tall man with powerful shoulders and a strong face, a man who commanded respect in a single glance. Like you. But you probably already know all this.

- Actually, I didn't ever know so much of him. He was always at the other end of the world, fighting Eckhardt and the Cabal, while I was running from side to side with my mother. By the way – he said, showing him the dreamcatcher - How do you find her?

- She came to us. She knew more than she appeared, and she had no one to turn to. She wanted to warn you that the real danger was not Eckhardt, but Karel. So we went to the Strahov. We did not expect to find you almost dying.

- It's typical of hers to leave her shelter. Was she with you? Is she here?

- No. We sent her back. We did not want to risk her life.

Kurtis nodded, playing with the little amulet.

- I guess now I can say _thanks for saving me_.

- No need to thank me. You're the one who is going to fight a great evil, freeing us and the rest of the world from it. But please don't think we helped you only as a convenience, or because we felt sorry for your mother. Years ago, I when I was newly elected abbot, Eckhardt attacked the monastery. He intended to steal the Golden Seal.

His gaze was sitting now in Kurtis' ring, who was listening to him with great attention.

- The Seal is not an artifact of your order, nor is the Periapt. It had been here since ancient times. Tradition says it was given by one of the four archangels to the first abbot of the monastery, with the following words: _If ever the Light of Truth and the Fallen Angel clash and balance their forces so that only one of them could win, this ring will show the way._ Nowadays nobody believes in this legend. But in fact, the Seal has led you here, back to its home, after you know the tragic story of lady Loanna and she put the Periapt in your hands.

- And how the Seal came to my father's hands?

- I gave it to him. As I said, Eckhardt attacked our monastery and set it on fire. Then he began to kill our brothers, one by one, waiting for me to reveal where I was hiding the Seal. We would all die, and me the last of them, if for your father had not arrived then and confronted him. He defeated the Dark Alchemist. He saved our lives. So I handed him the Seal. So we saved your life. I thought he was the chosen one, that the Archangel was referring to him as the Light, and the Alchemist as the Darkness.

He looked down and pushed his dark hood over his head.

- I was wrong. Eckhardt was not Evil, but Karel. Konstantin was not the last of the Lux Veritatis… it was you. His only son.

Kurtis had taken off the ring from his finger and was spinning it between his fingers, caressing its polished golden surface.

- Then I should give it back to you. It's yours, after all.

But Minos smiled and shook his head slowly.

- No. The Seal was a gift and no gift should be returned. That's all you have left from your father. Keep it.


	24. Chapter 24: The Angels' Oracle

**Chapter 24: The Angels' Oracle**

- The True Option. - muttered Lara - The mother of all religions.

She was sitting on the windowsill of her cell, not caring the least that it opened behind a huge cliff, the explorer crossed out symbols and let the sheets fall at her feet, forming a scattered pile of papers.

Focused on the task, she didn't hear that Kurtis had come in and was leaning against the doorframe, watching her in silence. She was now used to his discreet and reserved manners.

- Look at this. – she said, pointing to the sheet in which she was working. The last symbol that was left to eliminate in it was the Cross. Lara crossed out it with a jerk of pencil - Zas. Goodbye Christianity. Centuries of spirituality and faith destroyed by Lara Croft in a second.

- Don't let the monks to see you. - he said, looking over his shoulder.

She laughed and dropped the sheet to the ground. Then she took another and, relentless, continued to work as she said:

- You owe me thousands of explanations. Start by telling me how the monk managed to convince you to follow him.

He had also got used to her outgoing and delightfully cheeky attitude. He found it as attractive as she concerning his mystery.

- He gave me something that belongs to my mother - he pulled out the amulet and showed it to her. - She's an Indian. She belonged to the Navajo's tribe for generations.

- Who would have said that? - she said. - Where is she? Is she as mysterious as you?

- She's a refugee in a reserve, with the rest of her people. In a place where Karel can't find her. Both have spent all life running away and hiding. It was the only way to survive. But not anymore.

Lara crossed the ultimate symbol and began to fan herself with the useless sheet. The heat was sweltering in the monastery, even at that point – it was the typical Greek climate - and the clothing she wore heavy black and did not contribute much to cool it.

- Huh... I have another question.

- Shoot.

- Why did your skin burnt when you invoke the farsee in Munich?

- Probably because you were close.

She stopped fanning herself and glared at him.

- That has been very rude on you. – she snapped.

- Do you believe so? - he replied, raising his eyebrows. In the corners of his lips hinted a smile that exasperated Lara.

- Well, yes. You like to play the role of mystery man, very sure of yourself but unassembled scandals. But basically you can not fool me with that. No, Mr. Trent, I remember perfectly that scoundrel who disarmed me in the Louvre.

He threw his head back and let out a spontaneous laugh without malice.

- Tell me, miss Croft. Would you have preferred me to knock out on you?

She did not answer. She was piercing him with her big brown eyes, while furiously twisting the sheet in her hands.

- That would have been usual. - she said after a few seconds - Nobody ever made me feel so... so angry. So humiliated.

- Humiliated? No, Lara, that was _not_ at all my intention. In fact, I was willing to give a blow that would have left you unconscious for hours. But I wasn't able. Only a thug would be able to hit you, and I do not consider myself as such, despite what I may appear.

Lara got up from the ledge and stood with dignity. Her eyes sparkled.

- How long will you continue with your insolent hints?

He looked at her. It seemed that her irritated tone, rather than offend him, amused him.

- And how long, Lara, you'll keep pretending that you don't like that?

And he turned and left the cell, leaving an open-mouthed Lara.

(…)

The next day a brother came to tell the abbot that "the stranger woman" was asking for his presence. It was clear that the brothers were not at all used to seeing women within their walls, and the rigor with which they treated her almost bordered on rudeness. But she did not seem to care.

_A true Amazonian_, thought the abbot, looking at the strong woman wandering around the cloister. When she saw him, she hastened to him and grabbed his arm with all informality:

- I would like to see the Oracle, _patéras_ Axiotis. – she said. - I'm used to examine my "field of action" before participating in it.

The abbot smiled. It was rumored that for that woman nothing was sacred enough to prevent its desecration. Therefore, this devout community of monks had rushed to close tight the chapel and the crypt and, just in case. Lara would have felt insulted if she had known about that, but in fact, Minos had been informed that the explorer had been seen prowling the night before that forbidden places, and that there was no lock forced, so that meant she had some respect to her hosts at least.

They descended into the darkness of the crypt, illuminated by a torch held by Lara, while helping the elderly religious man to descend the slippery steps.

There, where the sunlight did not arrive and the air was rarefied by the moisture and putrefaction, lay the remains of all the monks who had given voting and service since medieval times. As there was no space enough for so many bodies, and following the Orthodox ritual, only the heads were preserved, being considered the deposit of wisdom and faith.

_Nice decor_, Lara thought as they passed alongside walls full of ancient toothless skulls, each with its own name. Some were almost a waste of dust, some were more recent, all thousands of empty sockets that watched from their niches and seemed to come alive at the dancing light of the torch.

The corridor went down to a larger space.

- We've arrived. - announced Minos.

Lara raised the torch and examined the place. It was a circular room that reminded her of the burial chambers of Cappadocia. The floor was bare rock. The vault was covered by a beautiful fresco of an angel surrounded by small seraphim. In the middle of the room stood a small stone altar (similar to that seen in the stronghold of Al-Fayoum). In the center of the altar was a hollow, a small concavity that seemed willing to hold some water or something.

That was all.

- A very austere place. - Lara said.

- God's things are austere, my daughter. Luxury and pomp are sins of this century.

Lara could then ask him what he thought about baroque Catholic churches, or the beautiful gold and ivory icons that hid many Orthodox churches. But she decided to shut up and move on:

- I remember, _patéras_, having heard that the Oracle already existed before the monastery was built.

- Indeed. Both this altar and the fresco room are just a place of remembrance. It is said that the Archangel appeared here to deliver the Seal to the first abbot.

- And the hole in the altar?

- Have not you guessed it, daughter? That's where you should put the Periapt.

She looked at him, caught by surprise.

- I thought the Periapt belonged to the Lux Veritatis.

- And it belongs to them, or rather, it _belonged_ to them. But about the Periapt's origins I can not say anything because I know nothing about it; only that it should be placed on the altar to invoke the Oracle.

Lara reached into the hole. Indeed, it had more or less the same size as the crystalline sphere. She rubbed the dust and cobwebs from the hole.

- Is there a secret code, phrase or ritual? Or it's just to put the Periapt on it?

- It is you who should know that. I already have told you everything I know.

- Fantastic. - she muttered under her breath, so that the abbot could not hear it.

They went back outside. And they began to wander outside. Some novices looked scandalized the scene: a holy and venerable abbot walking with a woman! Definitely, the times were degraded.

Minos, oblivious to everything, looked around and asked:

- Where is Mr. Trent? I have not seen...

- Frankly, I neither know nor I care about him. - Lara muttered, through clenched teeth.

The abbot looked at her, surprised.

- I do not know what he did to annoy you, my dear, but _of course_ we should care about where he is. So many things depend on him… as on you. - he sighed.

- What is the relationship you have with the Lux Veritatis? - Lara said, as if she had not heard his previous words.

Minos sighed again.

- In principle we did not have any. Our order was born in 1138, coinciding with the rise of the monasteries in the valley. At first we took refuge here to escape from war and plague, but ended up settling there permanently.

"It was not until two centuries later when the Order of the Lux Veritatis was born. They reminded of humble knights of Christ, but they never became as famous as the Templars, the Hospitallers or the Teutonics. In fact, I never knew if the Lux Veritatis professed any religion or faith. Their task was actually to fight the Dark Alchemist and the Cabal.

But all that was ruined when the Templars were destroyed. As you know, my dear, the Catholic Church, prompted by the political interests of the French king, ordered the extermination of the Order and sent to all members to the fire. Then the Lux Veritatis were afraid and hid. The accusation of witchcraft with which the Templars were charged was, of course, untrue, but... what could they expect for them, if they had _such_ extraordinary powers?

- They would have been accused of witchcraft in all fairness and crushed by the Church. - Lara said, and hastened to add - the _Catholic_, of course.

- They hid. They disappeared from both political and social spheres. They placed their bases in remote and alien places, even in infidel lands like Egypt. And since they could not expect any support from Catholics, they found refuge in Orthodox Christianity. We, the monks of Meteora, we became their allies.

- What do you know about them and the Nephilim?

- Ah, my daughter, no much more. We trust them because we had a common enemy: Eckhardt. However, we have a couple of legends about them. But I guess that your youth will not appreciate these details.

- I love legends. - Lara said – Underestimate them is making a big mistake.

Minos smiled.

- From the origins of the Nephilim you already must be informed. One of the angels of God came down to Earth and joined the daughters of Eve. From this union were born these hybrids of angels and mortals, who retained more from angel than from mortal, and they were called the Giants by their tall and slim constitution. Well... another legend says that the Lux Veritatis are exactly their antagonists, only with more of mortals than angels.

Lara laughed.

- Are you telling me that the Lux Veritatis are also angelic hybrids?

- The truth is that nobody knows where they came from. But they certainly possessed powers that could rarely be described as "normal."

She frowned as she pondered:

- Well, I've seen Kurtis doing really weird things. He can alter the objects around him; make them move, explode, flying. He can send his mind to the past; he can remove it from his body. But I really can not believe he's half-angel. Despite how strange he is in his capabilities, he's the most _earthly_ man I have ever known. – she concluded with a smile.

- Come on, my child, how many people in the world have _such_ power? How many could have been able to survive to the wound that infernal creature caused to him? Mr. Trent may not resemble exactly the image we have of a heavenly messenger, but certainly he's _not_ like any human being. The Order of the Lux Veritatis was not _earthly_ at all. It is said that if the Nephilim were the offspring of the Fallen Angels, the Lux Veritatis are the same from angels who remained faithful. They were divided into two groups: those with the power to heal any wounds and those with the power of telekinesis. Mr. Trent and his father belong to the latter group, the most powerful, the ones fighting directly against Eckhardt. By contrast, The Alchemist always tried to kill the Healers, so that Fighters could not heal from wounds that were most often lethal. This is how he gradually got destroying the Order.

- Mortal angels. It's a great contradiction.

- Even the Nephilim were not _completely_ immortal. Only the angels themselves are. And about them we do not know anything ... nothing but what the Sacred Scriptures tell us. I have always wished that my time would coincide with the moment of the Oracle's revelation. Now I will see my wish fulfilled.

Lara did not respond. Absorbed in thoughts, she was wondering why Karel did not enter the scene. They were very few symbols left... she was getting closer to the answer. She knew that the Nephilim had to be hidden somewhere, waiting patiently for the millennial moment. But since leaving Munich she had not seen him, she had not received a single threat, Kurtis had not noticed his presence and the abbot himself had told her that telephone warnings had ended. Where was he?

That night she would find out that.


	25. Chapter 25: Pantókrator

**Chapter 25: **_**Pantókrator**_

It happened at the refectory. In general, the monks ate apart since they could not tolerate the presence of the two foreigners. But after a severe reprimand from Minos, they had agreed to sit with them, of course, as long as the damn woman kept covering her face with the hood and not disturb them with her brazen and insolent eyes.

There were traditions and stereotypes that would never change, even to pass the time. In Meteora almost nothing had changed in ten centuries.

Lara had been avoiding Kurtis all day. He, far from being offended, had corresponded with a sly smile every time they had crossed paths, which had only irritate her further.

Now she was sitting beside him, separated from him as much as possible, while peering from the depths of the hood to all the monks, young and old, and throwing one of her piercing glances every time they looked at her, more to spite them than otherwise. Until one of the novices, furious, had risen, throwing his bowl on the floor, and pointing blame at Lara had shouted:

- I'm sick! Father, this shameless female continues to haunt us! Allowed entry into the holiness of our retreat is a clear desecration!

- Behave, Pancratios. – the abbot said sternly – She's here because I've allowed it. Do not forget that.

The novice was red with fury. Far from calming down, he continued:

- Since when a woman is meant to invoke the Holy Oracle! How far can we go? We, holy men and ancestral guardians of this place, we can not talk to the angels, and this _whore_ can!

A scandal broke out in the refectory. Half community stood up, shouting furiously that Pancratios was right and asking to oust the woman. The other half community began to rant Pancratios for using a vocabulary as inappropriate for the site. Minos stood in their midst and began to shout remembering them the rules of silence and humility imposed by the community. And Kurtis tested his Chirugai, just in case.

But Lara did nothing. She stood absolutely still on the bench, with pursed lips and a puzzled expression on her face.

That was not for the insult. After each meeting with Gunderson, she already got used to all the synonyms for "prostitute" with which he had gifted her. Nor was she afraid of the attitude of the monks, usual in people like them.

That had been for something else. Something she had seen in Pancratios' face while screaming furious.

At that moment, she had clearly seen _how his face changed_ _and rearranged itself,_ as if someone had used his face and his voice and to watch and insult Lara. It lasted only an instant, but it was enough.

Enough to recognize in that changing face Karel's icy glance.

(…)

Kurtis had not missed at all Lara's confused expression when she had risen from the bench and had rushed out of the refectory. She was not usually altered by nonsense like that, so he promised himself to find out what had really happened.

He could not go until later. Pancratios had organized a real riot in the refectory and the monks wanted to beat up the foreigner. Minos tried to calm everyone, and Kurtis was tempted to throw more than one monk over the window and send him to the valley's bottom.

In the end, all they calmed. Minos, hoarse and exhausted, imposed a severe penance to the entire community. Then he left lamenting to the chapel to pray, whispering:

- Evil has come to my monastery! Another corrupt soul like Karolis! How long will I be able to resist this?

It was midnight when Kurtis went to Lara's cell. Through the window came a ray of moonlight which illuminated the cell with a strange light.

He found her asleep, lying on her bed, frowning as she slept. She had not even taken off her robe, but it had lifted a little down, revealing a white barefoot, even with a bandage around her injured ankle.

Kurtis took the side of habit and covered her feet. Then he turned and started to leave the room, but then he noticed that she had taken his hand.

He turned. Lara looked at him, and clasped his fingers with hers.

- Stay here. - she whispered softly.

He sat quietly beside her, holding her hand.

- Look at you, _milady._ – he said with a grin. - You are white as paper. Have you seen a ghost? Or is it an air of offended maiden?

She grimaced ribald, and said:

- If I get offended every time I have been insulted in my life ... in fact, I think it was the other thing. – she lowered her voice- I've seen _him_.

Kurtis frowned.

- Are you sure? If he really were here, I would have noticed his presence. He can not escape from my farsee, nor can I escape from his one.

- I've seen him! At that monk's face, for a moment.

He thought for a moment, then he said:

- Then he is creating illusions, but in fact he's not _here_. He has served of the monk's anger to scare you.

- Well, he succeeds in that. – she grunted softly.

Kurtis looked at her, surprised.

- Well, so, after all, you're _human_.

- Do not mock at me! - she said - I hate that monster. _I really hate him_. I want to kill him. I want to stop wondering myself where he is and why he's rounding me without making an appearance. I can not bear being manipulated, being blackmailed with the lives that I have in my hands, being tempted as he did with me.

She stopped suddenly, because she realized that she had talked too much. She hadn't told Kurtis about what had happened in the morgue, nor did she want to. When Karel had offered her everything, especially when she had been about to give up, seduced by the evil spell of that creature. She was ashamed of her weakness a thousand of times, because she had been about to betray the man, who now was looking at her, sitting beside her and holding her hand in silence. A man who had trusted her wholeheartedly and whose life depended on her now.

But if Kurtis felt any curiosity about that episode, she never knew, because he asked no questions about it.

- Yes, I understand you – he said instead. - The Nephilim can become really irritants, as I have understood. I have so keen to get rid of him like you. To make him pay for all the damage he has done to you, to my family and to my Order. To do justice once and for all.

His tone sounded intense. Lara looked at him.

What if that was true? What if he had something of angel?

_Nonsense. He's supernatural, of course, but as far as an angel..._

- Sleep, Lara. - he said, dropping her hand gently and rising - If this monster is over here, I'll notice. Deal only with the Oracle. I'll take care of the rest.

As he walked towards the door, Lara murmured:

- Thanks.

- For what? - he said, turning.

_For coming to Munich to rescue me. For never abandoning me. For being the best companion I ever had. For putting me into your drawings. For being my guardian angel... an angel who rides a motorbike._

- For everything. - she replied simply.

Kurtis smiled and made a military salute. Then he lost in the dark.

(…)

During the following days, Lara worked frantically. She would spend hours focused on the symbols. She had crossed out hundreds of them, starting with the most modern. Rouzic had defined the True Option as the mother of all religions. That meant she had to choose the oldest symbol of all.

It might seem simple, but it was not at all. Who knows what the oldest religion was, the first deity worshiped by humans? Reluctantly, Lara ruled out hundreds of Egyptian gods, and was about to liquidate the Olympic pantheon. The problem was that, if she eliminated them, there was nothing left.

When she needed airing, she circled the monastery or went down to the crypt to examine its recesses. She still had no idea about how to invoke the Oracle (she was an explorer, not a Sibyl), but so far it had no priority.

Kurtis stood aside, making rounds on the monastery like a sentinel. But every precaution was insufficient for what happened on the third day.

Lara came out that night to walk around the monastery. The monks slept so she had not to endure their unfriendly glances or gestures. She moved raging like a shadow in the dark, sliding down the aisles as she explored every corner of that quiet place.

It was almost morning when she sat on the edge of a fountain outside the monastery. That was a kind of lake, whose depth did not reach beyond the knees. Lara sat on the edge and took off her sandals. She removed the bandages from the ankles and dipped her feet in the cool water.

There was so much stillness and silence when she perfectly heard a strange sound behind her.

She sharpened her hearing, but remained motionless. No one who approached slowly from behind could pretend to do something good. She declined to imply that she had heard something. She would catch the assailant in the act.

She kept calmly swinging her feet on the water, and when she saw the huge shadow reflected on the water, stood up and stepped aside.

Her attacker, who had already been launched on her, lost his balance and fell into the pond. Before crashing into the water, however, he grabbed the edge of her robe and dragged Lara with him.

She struggled and started kicking the stomach of his enemy, whom she saw in the gloom. Between bubbling and splashing, she recognized an animal growl that was familiar to her. She stood out of the water and started to jump out of the pond, but then a pair of huge arms grabbed her from her waist and dragged her back into the water.

The black habit she was still wearing was heavier when wet. The fabric clung to her body and was tangled in her legs, making movements difficult for her. To make things worse, his opponent had a brutal force, and within seconds he immobilized her. He grabbed her head sharply and plunged it underwater. Lara struggled to free herself, but the other held her head underwater, insensible to her kicks.

_He wants to drown me_, she thought as she tried to see the face of her executioner. However, under the water and through the bubbles, all she could see was that in the right hand of his rival lacked the index and middle fingers.

_Gunderson!_ Why he was now trying to kill her? Had he decided to sabotage Karel's plans and betray the Cabal?

In any case, that did not matter. The important thing now was to survive. The thug was holding her head under the water, and if she kept struggling her oxygen will end soon. To continue fighting, led by panic, meant to die.

_Sorry, brute beast, but I won't give you the pleasure of drowning me._

She relaxed her muscles and let out the air which had been desperately accumulated. She was risking her life, but it was her only chance.

(…)

- I see you seem thirsty. Drink all you want, bitch! - Gunderson laughed loud - What, don't you have enough?

At intervals he drew her head of the water and drove her to sink. He was too blinded by anger to realize that his opponent was no longer struggling. Surprised, he let her go. Lara's body slowly surfaced the water.

She had drowned.

- Too easy. - Gunderson said with a sneer. He jumped and left the pond. - I thought fun would last a bit more.

Well, he still had some entertainment. He snuck quietly into the monastery and entered the chapel.

Minos Axiotis was here, praying in silence, kneeling and looking at a _Pantókrator_'s icon. On the altar it had been placed the Periapt and the three Shards, to be treated as a precious and sacred objects.

- Be quiet, you geezer. - he said when the abbot discovered his presence.

The thug slipped down the aisle and took one of the Shards. Wielding the knife in his left hand, he approached to the trembling Minos.

- Have you prayed enough, chubby monk? Tonight I'm lucky. I've just drown in your pond that bitch who left me unable to wield a weapon – he show him his mutilated hand – It's hard to believe that she did _this_ with her beautiful teeth, huh? Well, now I'll slit your throat as if you were a pig so you'll go straight to take your place among the martyrs. Then I'll gut that bastard of Trent and with that I'll also kill the last Nephilim. And after killing two birds with one stone, maybe I'll give a tour of the monastery and kill some monks, who knows?

The abbot looked terrified at that colossus' face, disfigured by anger.

- May God forgive you. – he said as he felt the blade of the knife in his throat.

And he closed his eyes, waiting for the final.

Suddenly, he heard a strange whistling that could not identify; a sickening sound of broken bones and an animal scream that escaped from the lips of Gunderson.

Minos opened his eyes. The bully was bowed before him. The abbot went away from the pew just in time to see Gunderson bending himself. A strange glaive was protruding from his back, nailed to the level of the kidneys. The blood flowed in torrents.

Standing beside the altar was Kurtis. The fire which was burning in his blue eyes scared the benevolent abbot.

Gunderson stumbled and pulled the Chirugai from his back. Then he turned and faced the legionnaire.

- Attacking a defenseless old man. - Kurtis spat between his teeth - How low you have fallen, Gunderson.

The bully did not respond. With eyes bulging from their sockets, he let out a wild howl and rushed on Kurtis with the knife held high as he unsheathed the weapon.

He stopped his arm and began to struggle. The Boran fell. Gunderson was out of himself. The wound which had caused the Chirugai to him was mortal, but he did not seem willing to go to the other world without taking his hated former teammate behind.

Kurtis was a strong man, but he could not compete in size and musculature with the mercenary. Still struggling, he slowly pushed back Kurtis, throwing him against the golden icon of the Savior.

With a cry of rage, Gunderson freed himself from the struggle and drove the dagger into the hollow of Kurtis' collarbone. The blade pierced the flesh and plunged into the gold leaf icon, leaving Kurtis nailed to the wall. A wave of blood fell upon the face of Christ.

- _Agía Maríam Theotókou!_ - cried Minos, whom the terror kept his feet sewn to the floor. His cry was mixed with Kurtis' one, who was immobilized by pain.

Gunderson tottered back and grabbed the second knife. Then he came back to Kurtis and hissed:

- What should I do first? Do I bag your eyes or do I rip your gut? In any case, I will send you to make company to that bitch that you seem to like. Only I will take a little time. I hope that Karel would not mind if I cut you into pieces. – he threw a boorish laughter.

Kurtis could not move. His rival had plunged the Shard so viciously in his flesh that only its handle's end was emerging. In a gesture of despair, he invoked his powers to come to his aid. And indeed, when Gunderson approached the Shard's blade to his face, an invisible force struck him and made him to roll down the stairs, away from the altar.

He took that moment to reach out and call the Chirugai. His faithful weapon quickly came to his hand, and he held it before him, in his extended arm. The bully rose again, and half crawling (the loss of blood began to weaken him) came back to Kurtis.

- Interesting. - he gurgled - If I give one more step, you'll cut me with that flying thing of yours. But I'll take advantage of my last vital boost to kill you. Too bad, you were a good mercenary.

- I was _never_ good. – Kurtis gasped - I was _the best_. Better than you. That's why you hated me and joined to my enemies.

Gunderson dropped his last laugh, and rushed on Kurtis, pointing the Shard to his heart.

At that moment a shot rang out in the chapel.

Gunderson's eyes widened as he fell on the altar, knocking the Periapt and the third Shard.

Through the fog which was beginning to cloud his eyes, Kurtis saw Lara, standing in the doorway, holding the Boran and dripping water from her fitting black habit.

- An asshole less in the world. – she said.

She dropped the gun to the ground and in two strides she stood at the altar.

- I'm afraid this is gonna hurt you. - she whispered.

- Pluck it now. - he gasped, gritting his teeth.

Lara poked the wound with decision and, after finding the Shard's handle, pulled it out at once, placing a foot against the wall. The inertia made her stumble, but Kurtis fell to the ground like a sack.

- Holy God! – she heard the abbot muttering.

He touched his shoulder, the left one. It was slippery with blood. The pain was so strong that he felt as if the arm would fall off from his shoulder to the ground.

A pair of flexible and wet arms embraced him. _Lara._

- Hold on. - he heard her saying, but her voice sounded very far, far away.

The world swung around him and then he was plunged into blackness.

_What do you see, Kurtis?_

_I see nothing, mother. I only feel pain._


	26. Chapter 26: The broken promise

**Chapter 26: The broken promise**

- A desecration! Do you hear me, venerable father? A desecration!

- The holy icon of the _Pantókrato_r stabbed and bloodied!

_What want these jerks now? Someone should sew their mouth at once. What a pain, let me sleep for a time..._

- He's regaining consciousness. - said a female voice.

Kurtis opened his eyes. There was a blurred face bending over him, and soon he recognized Lara's features.

He was laying on a cot in his cell. She was washing her bloodstained hands – that was _his_ blood – in a basin that helpfully offered a melancholic and dejected Minos. The two arguing monks he had heard were at the door, and according to the glance they threw to him, he knew they blamed him for _everything_ that happened.

- You've been lucky, soldier. - Lara smiled - It could have been much worse. If that get to touch the bone, it would have crippled your arm. I'm beginning to wonder myself if you would have a guardian angel.

- All mortals have one, my daughter. - indoctrinated the abbot.

Kurtis gave a bitter laugh.

- All I have is the Grim Reaper lurking me everywhere. I'm the most jinx guy over the planet.

He dropped his head again on the pillow and closed his eyes. His shoulder was heavily bandaged, but it kept giving him fiery pangs. Surely the knife must have severed his muscle.

- Who was that man? - then the abbot said.

- Marten Gunderson. - Lara said – He worked for the Cabal, but apparently he decided to take justice into his own hands. He acted solely for personal reasons.

- What could have prompted this man?

- I mutilated his hand by biting him.

Minos stared at her with horror. Could this lovely girl...? But yes, she had shot at close range with all the coldness of the world. The other two monks crossed themselves, sickened.

- Good work, Lara. - Kurtis said faintly, without opening his eyes – That was really _nice_ on you.

- It was self-defense. Mere survival instinct. - she said with a shrug - Why he hated you?

- Envy. I was a better mercenary than him. The student surpassed the teacher and the teacher could not stand it.

_As Werner did_, Lara thought, sadly. The archaeologist always treated her with pride and condescension, even though she was the best of his students.

- We must do something with the body. - said a monk - We can not allow it to desecrate the chapel.

- Next to pronounce the word _desecration_ or derivatives in my presence will descend to the valley and will come up again walking without sandals. - threatened Minos.

The monks shut their mouths at once.

- I propose to hang that bastard on the elevator and let the vultures to eat fim. - Kurtis said quietly.

- I agree. - corroborated Lara.

Letting out a cry of horror, the scandalized monks fled down the corridor, crossing themselves without stopping.

- Blessed Mother! - murmured the abbot - Even the wickedest man deserves a Christian burial. I will not allow this barbarism in my monastery.

And that afternoon Gunderson was buried on a lost hill in the valley's bottom, without any ceremony and no place to indicate his grave. However, it was more than he actually deserved. Then the monks washed the soiled chapel and wept for hours their unrecoverable icon.

At dusk Lara went to the refectory and this time she avoided looking at any monk, not so much to avoid a new scandal (which anyway meant doing a favor to Minos) but because she did not want to see Karel peering through others' face.

She sat down with the abbot, who kindly said to her:

- Do not worry, dear. I've fought these rioters. It's unbelievable, the more they grow in holiness and meditation, the more they become intransigent.

- No matter. - she smiled - While not happening what happened to me in Afghanistan some years ago... - and before the curious eyes of the abbot she said - I came out to the street and forgot to put on my _burkah_. An angry mob lashed out against me with stones. Most were women.

Minos shook his head sadly.

- How is Mr. Trent?

- He'll recover. He's a tough guy, and he has dealt with worse situations, as you know.

He looked around distractedly.

- Something troubles you, my child.

- It's _that_ Karel. The other day I saw him in the face of Pancratios. I did not want to alarm you, but you need to know that. He can appear at any time.

Minos nodded, silent. _I know. I've feared that all along_.

- I'm not a very mystical person. - Lara confessed - Until four days ago, I did not believe in Good or Evil, which seemed more abstract and religious concepts than any else to me. What is Evil, really? What may he want, and how to deal with that?

The abbot sighed and folded his hands.

- You ask me about evil? Let me talk about evil. He's Evil. He has been Evil through history. So do you ask what he wants? Power. You ask me how to deal with him, miss Croft? Stop running away, turn around... and face him at once.

Lara frowned.

- Are you insinuating that I have been running away from him?

- I'm not _insinuating_ that, I'm _saying_ that. My respects, daughter. Certainly each step you have taken since your mentor was murdered before your eyes, you have done it hoping to end with all this, but you've also been running away from it. Running away from his blandishments and temptations, running away from his promises and his spell. But you neither can escape from a Nephilim nor can you get rid of him. You must stand your ground... and liquidate him.

She let out a snort of indignation. A gentle and peaceful monk was giving to her, _Lara Croft_, some lessons about how to confront an enemy! Of course, it was the last straw.

- I know what I have to do. – she said, rising. - I have never lost sight of my goal.

- Be careful, dear. The pride can make you lose. I'm just warning that time is running out. So much depends on you. Do not waste the responsibility which has fallen on your shoulders.

But she did not reply. She left the dining hall and left him sitting there, amidst a community of silent men.

(…)

_Venus, the Love. Saturn, the Heaven. Gaia, the Earth. Neptune, the Sea. Helios, the Sun._

There were very few symbols lest. Very few. But again she stood before a closed door. How to know which of them was the oldest? What had worshiped first humans? Sun, Earth, Love? Anyone could be. But only one was possible. And there would be no second chance.

She was so tired of all that she decided to finish with that.

Kurtis left the cloister attracted by the smell of smoke. He had been determined to rise from the cot almost immediately, but the wound needed a major intervention to be fully healed, and according to his halting gait, it was easy to guess that every movement was torture for him. But he would have preferred to be killed before complaining about his pain.

- What are you doing?

Lara had lit a bonfire in the yard and was throwing all the documents (her own and those of Rouzic) in the fire.

- I'm burning all the sheets.

- I figured it out. – he said, mordant - A shame to lose such brilliant work.

- I prefer to see it destroyed before being spied on by the enemy. May Karel dispute it with the fire! I've got very few symbols left and I will not be so stupid as to write down the True Option. If hewants it, he should find another way to find out it.

For the first time she felt safe. She had taken a decision, inspired by the abbot's hurtful words. Her, and only her, had the power and control of the situation. She would never consent Karel to humiliate her or to make her feel lost or helpless again. Now she would handle the matter. She was going to kill him. Once and for all. She had plenty of time to complete her lengthy investigation.

She did not know that Kurtis had also made his own decision.

Very little time ago he had noticed the presence of Karel. He was there in the monastery, camouflaged under the guise of a monk. It was no illusion.

And this time he was determined to act. Karel would force Lara to reveal the truth. Then he'll kill him and so he'll put an end to what remained of the Lux Veritatis. And so the death of his grandfather, his father, of all Order and thousands of innocent people would have been in vain.

Well, that would be over his dead body, thought Kurtis. Whether if she find out the Real Option or not, it was time for revenge.

After all, what matters one more death? He'll die, of course, but he also would have revenged those who had died before him.

He only regretted he was about to break his promise to Lara. But she would understand. She _had_ to understand it.

(…)

It was dark. Lara was asleep in her bed when she woke up startled and hurried to light the lamp.

She had noticed a cold breath in her ear. A kind of frozen breath that had made her shiver from head to toe. No sense. The heat was sweltering and the humidity was almost unbearable in Greek night, in which the slightest breeze wasn't blowing.

A suspicion began to haunt her. She got up and dressed hurriedly. She came almost running to the chapel and went to the altar. She was about to enrage when she saw it was empty.

- Be calm, I have them.

Kurtis was there, fully dressed and armed.

- Did you also notice _that_, right? - Lara said – He's here.

He nodded quietly. He handed the Periapt and two Shards, but the third one was hooked to his belt.

- This one is for Karel. – he said with determination.

She looked at him blankly.

- But you _can'_t face him yet. I have not decided what symbol...

She stopped talking as she read Kurtis' eyes expression.

- Some time ago, in Egypt, I made you a promise, do you remember? - he said slowly - I promised I would wait. Sorry, _milady_, but I have to break that promise.

A spark of anger and rebellion came across the face of Lara.

- _No!_ Is that your famous sense of honor? You're going to die!

- I know.

- You know! Sure, you've always known _that_. You lied and cheated me. You intended from the outset to throw yourself this kind of duel to the death and so to prove your honor and willingness to sacrifice. _Traitor!_

The last word sounded like a whip.

- That's _not_ true, Lara. - Kurtis said bitterly.

- What do I care? I thought you had settled down. But you've been playing with me. Look at yours, Kurtis! You're wounded, with one arm almost useless and you have lost so much blood. _You have no chance!_ If you want to kill yourself, why don't you take that gun of yours and then shot yourself? That will end soon and will save you from suffering.

She instantly regretted about what she had said. She bit her tongue. Why was she punishing him like that? He had always supported her...

- That was a low blow, Lara. - he sighed - I thought you'd understand, but I see that not. Be sure I have neither deceived you nor I have played with you and of course, you have not been studying symbols for _nothing_. But now I don't care about what you think. Karel is here and I'd rather break my promise than risk he would force you to tell him the truth. So if you want to make me only one favor in your life ... – he said pointing towards the door – _please_ go down to the crypt. There he will not bother you, because I will deal with him.

Lara looked at him briefly, and then she understood. She looked at the Periapt, which he had deposited at her feet. Perhaps all was not lost yet. Maybe he had a chance, if she could...

Then she took a step towards him, took his face in her hands and joined her mouth to his. Although taken by surprise, Kurtis reacted: he encircled her waist with his arms and hugged her, returning the kiss with all the toughness and passion of a mature man. It lasted only a moment. Then she proudly threw back her head and broke the embrace. Without pausing, she picked up the Periapt and ran away from the chapel without even looking back, towards the Oracle.

Kurtis stood where he was, breathless, speechless. Only after a few seconds he came back to reality.

- Ok. – he sighed again.- _That_ has been a low blow.


	27. Chapter 27: The True Option

**Chapter 27: The True Option **

- Minos! Minos Axiotis!

The abbot went out of his reverie. He was praying in a small altar dedicated to St. Stephen, the patron of the monastery, which was standing near the entrance to the crypt. He saw Lara arriving by running in a flurry of skirts. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily.

- What happens, child?

- Quick! - she ordered imperiously - Open the vault!

At that time, a hooded figure appeared in the cloister. The alleged monk threw back the hood and a cool and collected face appeared, a pale man with blonde hair and blue eyes. Minos had not seen him before, but he immediately recognized him.

There was no more needed to panic him. Jumping, he pounced on the closed hatch and opened at a breakneck speed.

Karel rose slightly in the air and went towards them. Now his face had changed and had been as it truly was. He saw the chubby abbot going back terrified, but what really infuriated him was to see Lara standing and challenging him with a defiant look.

- Pride has made you stupid. – he said, stopping and staying in the air - At least before you had the decency to fear me.

- What you gonna do, Karel? - she said loudly. She extended the Periapt towards him - Are you going to prevent me from descending to the crypt and invoking the Oracle?

The Nephilim did not answer. He threw a beam of energy towards her, but she dodge it by jumping to one side.

- I will answer to that. - she continued, relentless - You can't stop me! Your life depends on me now! Kill me and you won't have any hope!

Between the arcades of the cloister appeared Kurtis, who moved slowly towards Karel. He saw him and rose a little more.

- Definitely, pride has corrupted you, foolish mortal. – he said through gritted teeth - I have no doubt about what will be your choice. Do you think you can blackmail me with that? No one threatens a Nephilim!

- Tell me which option you have. - continued Lara, distracting him while Kurtis was still advancing with the Chirugai on his hand - You'll never put your hands on me, you pig. I'm out of your reach.

- Maybe.- Karel granted again, serene – But you won't arrive in time. Admit it, Amazonian, you have failed. I'm going to kill him. - he said glancing at the impassive Kurtis - You can't do anything for him. If I were you I would stay here to enjoy the show.

For a moment it seemed that the threat made a dent. But she soon got over - no one tricks Lara Croft! - and she dropped herself through the trapdoor. The abbot went after her and bolted the hatch behind him.

Kurtis and Karel were now alone in the cloister. The Nephilim pursed her lips angrily.

- So, what now? - Kurtis said mockingly - I get the impression that you have run out of resources. You've played your last card and you lost.

Karel rolled his white eyes towards him.

- What is the point about facing each other? Why to waste your life in this sacrifice? My cause was not evil. I just wanted the survival of my people, which your Order destroyed without mercy.

Kurtis trembled with rage, as if he had suffered a shock.

- You have _no_ shame. You talk about survival; just you, who no longer even know how many people you've killed! I am mortal, but not an idiot. And you've become as coward and liar as those mortals whom you've rubbed shoulders with, the same ones that you've despised.

- So do you want to die? Go on! - Karel hissed. - Think about it, because the survivor will suffer a slow death before turning off. Maybe you'd better let killed. Your father was stupid enough to fight ... which reported to him only more suffering.

But Kurtis did not respond. He would not let his talk to distract him. He crouched and grabbed the Churigai with one hand and the Shard with the other. Again, he felt those excruciating pangs in the injured shoulder. But now the pain no longer mattered. Nothing mattered. All was over for him. He sighed and waited for the attack of the Nephilim.

Karel did not wait.

(…)

The Amazonian ran through the dark and damp tunnels full of grinning skulls, while Minos, torch in hand, tried to follow her.

But he could not, since Lara ran like she had never run before. She ran even faster than when her life was in danger. She ran until her lungs burst and the orb in his hands became heavier than a rock. But she even didn't stop at that moment.

_Come on, girl_. She heard Werner's voice from the mists of a distant memory, echoed in her mind. _Show to the world of what stuff are you made_.

The slopes of the habit had been entangled in her legs. Why that damn runner never ended? A fork, and another and another... damned labyrinth!

And suddenly, the Oracle appeared before her eyes.

Lara suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. Her legs ached and she was sweating her skin-tight clothes.

- Minos! – she cried out - I need light!

The poor abbot came after her, panting like an ox, and fell to his knees. I was not in form or was too old for those jogging.

Lara walked towards the altar and placed the Periapt in the hole. After a couple of steps back she began to write the remaining symbols in the dust that covered the steps, while she quoted one by one...

- _Aphrodite… Uranos ... Poseidon… Gea... Helios..._

Minos looked at her in silence, holding the torch with shaking hands. He felt inclined to protest: how a heavenly Oracle would accept a pagan god's symbol? However, he decided not to interrupt her.

Lara stood up again and set her sights on the fresco. The angel seemed to look at her relentless, with the gesture of blessing the world. On each of his sides were the Alpha and the Omega, symbolizing the beginning and end of everything.

She stepped forward and placed both hands on the Periapt. Suddenly, the orb began to emit a bluish light. The abbot stifled a scream. At the same time, the Alpha and the Omega began to shine cool in turn.

- Angels! - Lara cried then - Hear my voice! The Amazonian is calling you!

(…)

The monks fled in disarray. Some ran into the crowded elevator, trying to save themselves. Others climbed down across the cliff, and the most fanatical and desperate of all jumped, disappearing into the depths of the valley.

Only a few, including Nikos, remained steadfast. The reason for the flight was a savage battle which was taking place in the cloister. But they could not approach to that. A wide light barrier was around the spot and repelled them if they tried to go too close.

Through the nebula, Nikos hardly distinguished two figures that were fighting one with another. One dismissed a deep orange glow as if it were a burning flame. The other emanated an intense green light, and seemed to float in the air like a cold iceberg. The contrasts of light were so violent that it was impossible to distinguish anything more. Outside that light field it did not reach any sound, although the energy given off made the air to vibrate.

- Is there anything we can do? - said a monk, robbed of anger in the presence of evil in that monastery.

- Only one. - sighed Nikos – Just pray.

(…)

A golden light spilled through the circular room. Minos fell on his knees, trembling with emotion. Lara remained steadfast, holding the Periapt.

_You have__ called us, Amazonian. _

These words rang on Lara's mind. She only could hear them. She looked around but saw nothing except that ethereal light.

_Thousands of years ago we made an oath, and __now we have come to fulfill it. _

It was not a single voice. It seemed thousands, millions of voices talking at the same time, slowly and rhythmically. Both male and female voices; voices of children, youth, adults and elderly. All kind of supernatural voices around her.

- What you swore? - Lara said, curious despite the urgency of the situation.

_We vow to fix the mistake we made to allow our brothers to come down to earth__ and begat the half-angels, the servants of Good, the Lux Veritatis, the servants of Evil, the Nephilim. A woman begat them, a woman will destroy them. Tell us the True Option, Amazonian, and the choice is yours. _

That multiple voice fell silent and waited for a response. Lara hesitated. She was pretty sure about what to say, but the magnanimity of that presence disturbed her. What if she was wrong?

_Hurry up, woman. For us, nothing means the time, but for them t__ime is running out. Tell us whom the mortals worshiped first, to what divinity they consecrated the first altar. Draw the symbol with your blood so we can read it. _

Lara took a deep breath. Taking the Shard, she made a cut on her hand and stained her fingers with red. Then she slowly drew the symbol on the altar, mixing her blood with the powder on the surface.

- This is the True Option. - Lara said while her voice sounded firm and secure in the shadow of the crypt. - _Gea! Gaia! Geb! Earth!_ The Mother of all men. The first goddess to worship. Earth. She was the first, before male divinities and heavenly deities were born. Before all religions, she was venerated.

The symbol was engraved. A circle split into four sectors. The oldest symbol on the planet. _Earth._ The origin of all religions.

For a moment the world seemed to hold its breath. Then, the multiple voice spoke again.

_That is the __True Option. _

(…)

Karel collapsed on the floor. His side wound had been reopened, regardless of the many wounds that crossed his body. He no longer had the strength to fly.

The nebula insulation was dissolved around him. He saw several monks contemplating the scene in horror. Well, let them enjoy the scene while they could.

A wave of energy hit him and sent him against the wall, beside a window overlooking the void.

_He's strong, that Lux Veritatis. What a fool, he__ doesn't know what awaits him. _

He stumbled up, just to see how Kurtis moved slowly, with the ready Shard. He also was hurt (he had several burns from Karel rays) but he seemed willing to endure to the end.

Gurgling through the blood that filled his mouth, Karel said:

- Idiot! You will die slowly and badly. Do you want to kill me? Go on! I will finish quickly while you still have much to endure.

He licked her bloodstained lips and spat to one side. Kurtis fell upon him and cornered him on the windowsill.

- This is for my father. – he said through clenched teeth – This is for Lara and for Loanna. This is for those who you've killed, you and your Cabal. Go to hell, devil.

The Nephilim held his arm to hold the knife, but it was slick with blood and got away. The blade sank into his heart. Karel howled with rage and defeat, and with his last strength, grabbed his opponent's neck with both hands and pulled him as he fell backwards.

(…)

_You __succeeded, Amazonian. Make your choice. _

Lara did not think twice.

- I choose Kurtis Trent! – she screamed - I choose the Light! I choose the Truth! A life for a life. Like him, I want revenge for those who have died because of the Nephilim.

The multiple voice fell silent for a few seconds, then said solemnly.

_A life for a life. Revenge for the innocent. Be as you say. _

The golden light danced wildly around the altar and Lara felt absorbed and transported. She hesitated, lost her footing… and fell unconscious next to the altar.

The light flickered and went out. Minos, trembling and astonished, looked at that extraordinary woman and crossed himself.

Again there was silence in the crypt. Silence and darkness.


	28. Chapter 28: Werner's Letter

**Chapter 28: Werner's letter**

A dirge filled the air. It was the only sound in the monastery, while the first flicker of dawn was breaking on the horizon.

_Kyrie eleison..._

_Xristos eleison..._

_Kyrie eleison…_

Lara went through the trapdoor. This time was Minos who helped her walk, because she was still dizzy from the mystical experience. Upon seeing the group of monks kneeling in the center of the cloister, whose walls and floors were charred as if it had been a fire, she frowned.

- What are you doing?

- We pray the office for the dead. - Nikos said, standing up – We've lost the Lux Veritatis warrior.

Minos gave a cry of dismay.

- Impossible! The ritual was fulfilled! Miss Croft...

- What happened? – she interrupted with an authoritative voice.

Nikos looked at her doubtfully.

- He killed the Nephilim. He sank the Shard in his heart. But the devil took his last boost to drag him. - he pointed to the window, still splattered in white blood - Both fell into the void.

Lara turned and walked away with long strides.

- Where are you going? - said Minos.

- To search him.

The monks looked at each other.

- She's gone mad! - said one - No one survives to that fall!

- He can do. - Lara insisted with cold and calm voice.

Nikos and the abbot went after her.

- My daughter. - Minos said sweetly – You should realize the truth. You were late. Everything you did was very noble and very brave, but it's better to let rest the dead.

Lara turned sharply and glared at him. Minos went back, intimidated. She was quiet, peaceful, enlightened. Something told the abbot _she was right_, she was not crazy after all.

- Whether if you like it or not, I'm going to look for him. - Lara said with determination - If he's dead I'll bury his body. Nobody is obliged to follow me.

And she went quickly towards the exit. Then she took off the habit (she worn under her explorer clothes) and started climbing down the rock.

Nobody tried to stop her.

(…)

It seemed that the descend lasted for hours, but she finally reached the bottom of the chasm. There, amid sharp stones, she found Karel's corpse, shattered by the impact. The Shard's handle was still sticking on his chest.

And there, beside him, Kurtis lay. Intact.

Lara leaned over him. She extended a trembling hand and checked his pulse.

He was breathing. _He was alive_.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Lara sat on her heels. Then she noticed that a burn had disfigured his shoulder tattoo. The Lux Veritatis symbol was distorted. She brushed the hair from his forehead and stroked his cheek. Then she lowered her hand across his neck, sliding her hand through an arm dirty of a mixture of red and white blood.

- It's unethical abusing of a wounded. - she heard a voice.

Lara suddenly withdrew her hand. Kurtis had opened his eyes and smiled with that cynical grin of him.

- Are you okay?

He sat back and stretched.

- I'll survive. Of course, I have to ask for a raise. I've outdone myself. Twenty feet... Daddy would be proud of me. - he concluded with sarcasm.

- How did you do…?

- It's called mental suspension. You fall at full speed into the void, and within seconds you have to convince your mind that your body does not weigh, that's not going to hit the ground. It's very difficult to achieve, and certainly I did _not_ expect to get it.

- So you really can fly?

- I wish I could. I have only slowed the rate of fall.

He looked aside and quietly observed the remains of Karel. Then he looked at Lara.

- You did it. – he whispered, full of admiration and respect.

- Of course I did. - she said proudly – Maybe did you doubt it?

- I have _never_ harbored a doubt, _milady_. – he answered, and this time he was who approached his face to hers and kissed her. Lara put her arms around his neck and abandoned herself to the kiss.

Irritated and annoyed voices were heard on high.

- Do not eat her, man!

- If you persist in behaving _this way_, you better give up this sacred valley.

Lara looked up and said:

- I propose to put all the monks inside the elevator and let them hang.

- I agree. - Kurtis confirmed, before bringing back her to him.

(…)

They left the monastery two days after, when Kurtis just recovered from the burns. Lara left the Periapt on the Oracle's altar. If that wondrous sphere belonged to somewhere, it was certainly to that place. Only Nikos and Minos came to say goodbye, to the great relief of both. The abbot hugged and blessed them both.

Both monks watched them in silence, descending on the rock, slowly and patiently.

- Do you think we'll see them again, _patéras_? - Nikos said, with folded arms into the robe's sleeves.

- I think not. Not me, at least. But I'm glad of having met them. They should be by far the two most extraordinary people in this world.

Nikos observed a moment of silence, after which he said:

- How do you think the Lux Veritatis warrior managed to survive to the fall?

The abbot smiled, and after a few seconds he replied with a quote from the Gospel of Matthew, taken from the Psalms:

_He will command His angels concerning him, _

_on their hands they will bear him up,_

_So that he will not strike his foot against a stone._

(…)

Inspector Köhler ran into the building. It was not even five minutes ago he had been reported that the suspect had submitted peacefully to police.

He found her sitting surrounded by agents. However, she seemed calm and confident.

- Miss Croft?

- The same one. - she replied with a charming smile - Sorry if I _don't_ shake your hand.

He caught a fine irony in her voice. Her hands were cuffed.

- Well, miss. - said the inspector - I guess you know you're stuck in a mess. You had better to find a good lawyer, because you're accused of crimes and atrocities of all kinds and your continuous fugitive attitude does not help to put the reason for your side.

- I know. - she said .- But I had unfinished business _far more_ important than this one.

Kohler looked stunned. _The girl has bollocks. Is she making fun of me?_

- Behave. You're facing a long prison sentence. If you were in the United States you had gone headlong into the electric chair. You're now looking forward to many months of trials, and during that you'll remain arrested.

Any woman had collapsed or had burst into tears on hearing this. But Lara just sighed and said:

The sooner we'll fix this, the better. Go ahead, inspector. I'm at your hands.

(…)

As the German inspector had said, the trials lasted for months. It was the first time someone as famous as Lara Croft was facing such serious charges, and the public soared. As always, there were those who judged her guilty and worthy of life imprisonment and also there were those who believed she had fallen into a trap.

If this long process was an ordeal for her, she did not show that in her face. She was always calm and sure of what she said. The facts were seemingly against her, but she was supported by testimonies like Jean, Selma, Ivanoff, and off course Kurtis, once he escaped from being a suspect as her collaborator.

Finally, against all odds, Lara was acquitted. It was shown that the murders and crimes were committed by a sect called the Cabal. She proved her innocence and was released. Nothing was said about the Lux Veritatis or fallen angels. Everything of that was considered the result of mystical ravings and assumptions of Neo-Nazi scientific aspirations.

The day she left the court, beaming, and surrounded by her friends, Lara saw Winston waiting at the foot of the stairs. Startled, she ran towards him.

- How strange that you have come so far! - she said, hugging him warmly.

- Yes, miss. - he sighed. She could see that the long months of confinement of her godchild also had affected him, for he was pale and aged - I came to pick you up and bring you to home for once. And also to give this to you. It came a day after you left for Turkey.

And he gave her a mailing envelope. Lara watched it, transfixed. The letter was from Werner and the postmark indicated that it had been shipped the same day she had come to Paris to talk to him.

She quickly opened it and extracted a letter. All around her - Selma, Ivanoff, Jean, Winston - squeezed to try to read with her. Only Kurtis remained apart, leaning back in his beloved motorcycle, waiting in silence.

_"My dear child:_

_I suppose you'll wonder why I call you this way, after so many years. Why now, when I'm calling you and you have resisted all that could you to come, until you reluctantly agreed to come to Paris, I am writing this letter. The answer perhaps is that I am old and I regret all the mistakes I made. Maybe I'm not going to have the courage to tell you this to the face._

_Lara, my best pupil, my hardworking apprentice. From the first day I saw you sitting at your desk and looking at me with those domineering eyes, I knew that life had prepared great things for you. I did my best to make you become a good archaeologist, a great explorer. I did not expect you became the best archaeologist, an insuperable explorer. Perhaps that is why I treated you with pride and condescension. I was just an envious who sinned of so much pride. Cambodia's accident, which left me with a crippled leg, showed me that my pride had been exaggerated. But even then I didn't open my eyes. Furious, I blame you for that, you who had fled when the Iris closed on me._

_From mentor and pupil we become bitter enemies. But again in Egypt you showed me the pride which had corrupted me since I had become an execrable being. And when the pyramid collapsed on you, I knew you had given me a great lesson. So I invest all my time, my money and my efforts to rescue you._

_Lara, listen now, because I know you won't listen when you see me. I didn't abandon you. I would have never left you. I was forced to leave. The Government estimated that the conservation of the pyramid was more valuable than your life, and they removed the excavation permit. I was forced to leave you buried alive. I was forced to give up you for dead._

_As I knew you were alive, that the Bedouins had rescued you, I tried to contact you. But oh, girl, you have inherited my pride and stubbornness, and you didn't want to listen me. You're angry and you'll never forgive. It's fair: in Cambodia you were forced to flee for your life, and I then thought I had been abandoned. The roles are swapped._

_A great danger hangs over my head. I fear for my life. I'm looking forward to your arrival. I'll try to talk to you, but I know you won't hear the babbling excuses of an old lame man. At least, you'll have this letter._

_Your mentor, who finally feels proud of you._

_Werner. "_


	29. Chapter 29: It's a girl

**Chapter 29: "It's a girl"**

A warm breeze blew through the garden of Surrey Manor. A few meters was placed the cemetery and the family chapel. A slender woman, dressed in an elegant black dress and her hair in a bun, was standing before a fresh grave. The tombstone said:

_WERNER VON CROY_

_1932 - 2002_

_Requiescat in pace_

- An opportunity to forgive. - Lara murmured, placing a rose on the grave - I'm sorry Werner. I wish I would not have been so proud.

She had made bring back his body and bury it there, along with her family generations. He will forever have a place of honour, in memory of he who had made her become what she was.

She turned and slowly left the cemetery. A few steps, a strong and attractive man despite his sullen expression was looking at the funerary statue representing Lara's own, built when she was considered dead.

- If you want my humble opinion, it does not resemble to you. - Kurtis said – If I were you I would have made it to be removed. I would not like to have my grave all time on my sight.

Lara laughed.

- I have tried that, but I dare not. It was very expensive and I do not want to offend Father Dunstan.

She took his arm and walked back to the mansion. There, beside the gates, there was waiting Kurtis' motorbike, with all his baggage done.

- So you're going. - she said. In her voice there was a slight disappointment.

He did not answer immediately.

- Lara, we are different. You have your life and I have mine. I could not follow you wherever you were, and you could not condemn yourself to the shadow world in which I move. Karel's death was just one of my goals. I'm tied to a responsibility, to a destination that as a member of an Order I must meet.

- Kurtis, that Order is dead, - she said. - And anyway you've spent your life trying to deny who you are.

- I'm tired of denying it. I'm sorry for having failed to my father, to my people. I do not know if it will come the day in which I'll settle my debt, but for now I'm bound. Wherever I go, I must go alone. It's my conviction. Nephilim are dead at last, but there will always be demons to hunt, there are always evil creatures that no one can face if I'm not there. It is my mission and I have to fulfil it.

She looked at him, and suddenly he seemed be again the stranger who came across her in a Parisian ghetto, more than a year ago. She realized that she would never know him at all. Kurtis Trent will always remain part of his life steeped in mystery.

- Also, there is my mother. - he said, showing the dreamcatcher and taken it to hid lips. After so many months, he had enough confidence to make that intimate gesture before her. - I have to se her and say her that she's free. That she won't have to hide anymore. That our biggest enemy no longer threatens us.

- What next? - Lara bit her lower lip.

- Next... I'll go on. I can never stay long in one place. I have no home, I'm an uprooted.

- _This_ could be your home.

Kurtis looked at her. She had said that seriously, very seriously. He paced his sight by the elegant manor, on the manicured garden. Then he looked back at her. She was referring to something more than _that_.

- And what would I do here? Living at your cost. No, Lara. It's better this way. I can not stay with you.

- Should I assume that I won't see you again? - she said with feigned indifference.

_Not to see you again ... Who could stand__ that?_

- I would not say so, _milady_. Whenever you call me, I'll come.

- Really? - Lara began to smile.

- That's the oath of a Lux Veritatis.- he said taking a fist to his heart - I will come wherever I am. And if I'm dead, I'll go out from my grave because you've asked me.

Lara laughed and hugged him tightly.

- I'll miss you, Kurtis. I had gotten used to my silent sentinel.

- Take care, okay? Don't make much scandal when going around.

He left her and walked to his bike. He pulled from his bags a little portfolio that she once identified, were he had his drawings.

- Take that. - he said - I made them for you, and according to your face at the _jeep_, I have the impression you enjoyed them.

Lara glared at him.

- So you were awake and watching me!

- I could not resist the temptation, _milad_y.

The last kiss was long and intense as was every moment they had lived together. Then he got on the motorbike and took off, disappearing down the road. He did not look back, and neither did Lara when she quietly retraced her steps and entered the manor.

Already in the top of the stairs, she opened the portfolio and flipped through the sketches. She grinned at seeing the last drawing.

It represented a beautiful woman asleep on a bed and dressed in an austere monk's habit. Her skirt had discovered a foot, her ankle bandaged.

The woman - Lara, of course – was sleeping with a frown and pursed lips. A lovely gesture from someone who exhibits a strong character and makes her way through life with courage, integrity and dignity.

(…)

Giselle slowly climbed the gangway to the ship. One employee, upon seeing her, rushed to help her with luggage.

- Thanks. - she said, smiling with his white teeth.

- Heading to Argentina on vacation, madam?

The Nordic blonde looked uneasy at the employee. But his smile was honest and the question innocent.

- Yes. – she said - I want to relax a little. I have too much work and that's not good for the baby.

She touched his belly, which appeared swollen. The employee estimated about six months. I was surprised that a pregnant woman was not accompanied by her husband or family, but refrained from asking questions.

- Congratulations- he said. - Do you already know what it is?

Giselle smiled again and said nonchalantly:

- It's a girl.

**THE ****END**

_If you got here, thank you very much for reading my fanfic. __And if you enjoyed it, you probably also like to know that this sequel to AoD has, in turn, another sequel. This continuation of "The Golden Seal" is called "Lilith's Scepter", and this fanfic is much longer and with higher doses of mature content (sex, violence and strong language). I hope it is to your liking and thanks again for being there._


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